


Fleur Girls

by Jacque_le_Prince



Category: Original Work, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate History, Arab Character, Asian Character(s), Black Character(s), Extended Families, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Filipino Character, Flowers, Gem Fusion, Global Warming, M/M, Magic, Magical Girls, Native American Character(s), Nature, Near Future, One-Sided Attraction, Past Sexual Abuse, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Slavery, Spells & Enchantments, Steven Universe AU, Team as Family, Trans Female Character, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-07 21:37:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 57,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4278813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacque_le_Prince/pseuds/Jacque_le_Prince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phoenix has been bestowed Fleur powers by his mother, Nari. After being mailed three rings which three of Nari’s most trusted allies had been encased in, Phoenix’s life takes a tumultuous turn as he uncovers more about his mother, the Fleurs, and Earth’s history.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is story is a spin-off of the recent cartoon, Steven Universe (I say spin-off because it follows a similar plot, but nothing else). If you haven't watched Steven Universe, I highly recommend you do. Forget the fact that it's a kid's show. It's drop-dead amazing and I must say that I am very proud of Rebecca Sugar. What an amazing woman! Please, give her the credit she deserves.

" _Year: 2110...Okay, first, let me just say that in spite of what I'm about to tell you, I am actually just an ordinary guy. I live in Mistford; a small town off the coast of Florida where practically nothing happens. Not to mention I don't live where everyone else does. My home is a treehouse surrounded by forestry. I'm bored almost everyday, but I've gotten so used to that monotony that I can't even complain anymore_..."

* * *

A young man opened the door to his patio. The black cat followed at his feet, eager to greet his master. However, once the harsh sunlight shined in his face, the feline cringed and shuffled away, hiding behind the shadows of the bed in comfort.

The owner paid no mind and proceeded to step onto the wooden patio. His pale skin nearly glowed in the white light of the sun. He had a youthful face with a feminine jawline and sensitive lips. He brushed a lock of his raven black hair out of his blue almond-shaped eyes as he looked up towards the sky " _I slept in again?_ " he pondered.

He then yawned quietly, rubbing some sleep out of his eye " _Well, it's not like I had anything to do today._ "

* * *

"... _My name is Phoenix Magnolia Hall and this is my story._.."

* * *

The streets were quiet and calm as Phoenix rolled down the street on his bicycle. The bright spring sun shined down upon the neighborhood. Calm, friendly colors stood out even more, matching the few inhabitants that walked by and socialized with one another. Occasionally, one of said inhabitants would catch sight of Phoenix and greet him. In response, the young man would give and friendly wave and a greeting as well.

* * *

"... _I live just off the edge of the small part of Mistford. This section is full of family businesses and shops. We all know one another here. Everything is so close by that there aren't even roads or cars. Here, you just walk or, if you want to bypass it, take the road around it. We like to nickname it "The Mall" because this part of town essentially acts as an outdoor mall. There are even speakers lining the walkway that play music from radio stations and evenly spaced out palm trees lining the way. At night, the street lamps glow in various colors of the rainbow. It's a very calm atmosphere._.."

* * *

Phoenix parked his bicycle on the bike rack outside of a cafe. As he casually walked inside, the bell on the door signaled his arrival with a chipper jingle. The interior was small with only three customers inside, a woman alone and a father with his child.

At the counter, a man with cotton candy pink hair and tan colored skin chatted away with a fellow coworker, who seemed to be taking a short break from their activities. Once the man's forest green eyes settled on Phoenix, though, his attention was firmly set on him "Hey hey, Phoenix! I thought you'd never show up!"

The employee the pink-haired man had been speaking to went back to their duties once Phoenix walked up to the counter.

"Good morning to you, too, Harper," he said sarcastically.

The other man snorted "Tch, "morning"? How long did you sleep in, buddy?"

Phoenix scratched his head uncomfortably "Hmm...I don't know. What time is it?"

Harper looked towards his Clove, which displayed the face of a digital clock "Going on one, man."

Phoenix hissed as if he had been burned, cringing at the revelation.

"You'd better order something lunch appropriate," chuckled Harper.

As if to spite him, Phoenix grinned "The usual, please."

Harper rolled his green eyes "Fine…"

* * *

"... _Growing up, I attended a private school with a very small classroom. Harper was the only friend I was able to make and keep all the way into adulthood. He's actually the owner of his own cafe here in Mistford called The Velvet Haven. The cafe's building practically acts as a divider between The Mall and the bigger part of the city_..."

* * *

As Harper handed the bag to Phoenix, he rose a single brow in curiosity "Is the blond bang a part of your new goth look?"

"What?"

"The blond streak," repeated Harper, pointing at the corner of Phoenix's hair, causing the other to lean back in surprise.

Phoenix reached up to touch it, but realized that still didn't allow him to see what Harper was talking about. He kneeled down and looked at the glass case of donuts before him. In his reflection, his row of neatly cut bangs were still present. Among them was a single bright yellow one.

"It's highlighter yellow," commented Harper "Kinda upbeat for you."

Phoenix stood up, still touching the new patch of hair. It was too much to be a slip of pigmentation and it was such an unnatural shade of yellow.

Harper snickered "Did someone dye your hair in your sleep?"

Phoenix carefully took his hand away from his hair, chewing on the thought "I-I don't know," he shuddered "I really don't know." The idea of someone slipping into his home just to do something like that sent shivers down his body. Suddenly, he felt rather invaded and unsafe.

"Why would someone do that?" he asked Harper, who just shrugged.

Phoenix huffed, giving his hair one last ruffle "I've got to wash it out," he muttered "I hate blond hair."

"Of course you do, Black Swan," joked Harper as he casually leaned over the counter.

Phoenix was about to turn to leave, but was stopped by this remark "I'm not goth just because I wear black." He was currently wearing a simplistic outfit of black jeans, a white button down shirt and a black denim jacket, giving him an overall monochrome appearance.

"Okay, "O Wicked One"," said Harper, pressing his hands together in a mock prayer as he bowed.

Phoenix rolled his eyes and walked out of the cafe, but not without a slight smile.

* * *

"... _At the time, there wasn't much for me to do. I was a twenty-three year old man with your basic college degrees, but no real ambition. I was a freelancer and went through the motions of whatever job came to me. My father was the only family I had, yet I hardly got to see him because of his career. I lived alone save for my house cat, Midnight. Because of that, my life was pretty tame and uneventful. However, after that one day, that one particular day, I was never able to say that about my life again_..."

* * *

Phoenix began to walk up the stairs that led to his house. His legs shook underneath him as he meditated on his recent conversation.

" _If Harper is right, who could have gotten into my house?_ " he wondered, his blue eyes darting across his castle of a treehouse for any evidence of intrusion " _Everyone in Mistford knows each other and we'd be damned if we'd let a shady character move in. Besides, the only person who ever comes to this house is_ -"

Phoenix paused halfway up the stairs when the familiar hum of the mail truck reached his ears. He turned and watched as the tiny white truck drove down the dirt road. Phoenix stood there, waiting for the truck to approach his house.

"Hm?" his thin black brows furrowed in suspicion as the truck passed his house and went around the back.

Phoenix bounded back down the stairs to try to catch up with the mail truck "Wait, Mathias! Hey! Mathias!"

* * *

"... _There's a temple near my treehouse that makes my home look like a cardboard box. Because it's on my property and nobody else owns it, it technically belongs to me. I've never been able to enjoy that privilege, though, because it's been locked away and no one is able to get inside. It was strange seeing the mailman take the package over to the temple. No one lives there and he's never made this mistake before. When I confronted him about it, he apologized and explained to me that the address led him specifically to the temple and not my house. He said he was still aware that no one lived inside and that it was my property, but he thought I requested to have it sent to the temple for personal reasons. I suppose that means the temple really did act as a house to someone before_..."

* * *

The package was large, forcing Phoenix to carry it with both hands. However, he was surprised to find it light in weight.

He set it down on the porch floorboards beside him before he pulled out his keys to open the door. He was able to just gently push the box inside with his foot.

" _Who would have sent me a package?_ " Phoenix thought, setting it beside his coat rack " _Harper would have said something if he sent me something_."

He kneeled down to begin opening the box, but before his fingertips could even graze the cardboard, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Phoenix stood fully erect and answered it swiftly in one quick motion "Hello?"

" _Hey, Phoenix. How're you?_ "

The young man's ears perked up "Dad?" he said near to a gasp.

The other man's speech occasionally being interrupted by his laughter and a second voice in the background " _I just wanted to tell you that I'm on my way_."

Before the young man could question his father, he remembered " _Oh yeah, Dad is coming back from the tour,_ " he glanced down at the box " _Maybe he's the one who sent me the package_."

Phoenix smiled "Sounds like you're having fun over there."

The father, trying to contain his laughter, said " _Can you tell? Your godfather is back here joking around._ "

"That's kinda your job," laughed Phoenix "So Dad, when do you think you're going to be here?"

He heard rustling accompanied by " _Well, I'm on Grande Highway right now. So maybe half an hour, give or take?_ "

"Oh, well I'll see you soon then," the young man man, his crystal blue eyes roaming towards the box again.

He was just barely able to catch his father's departing words before he muttered his own "Love you, too. Bye." Phoenix then turned off the phone and slipped it back into his pocket.

A brief thought from Phoenix's conscious said " _Maybe I'm too eager_ ," before he attacked the box before him and quickly forgot the words. He absolutely loved when his father came back home. One of the many perks were the gifts he'd often bring back.

Halfway through attempting to cut the tape and failing, Phoenix muttered to himself "Why didn't he just bring this with him instead of mailing it?"

* * *

"... _People are always surprised when I tell them Terry Hall is my father. He's been a comedian for as long as I can remember, and before that, he hosted a talkshow called The Gift of Gab. Because of that, it's pretty rare that he's home. He's usually on tour, traveling or performing out of town. I can't really say that I miss him that often since he calls me at least three times a day. He says he trusts me enough to live out here alone, but I can tell that it still partially gets under his skin that he can't actually be here with me_ …"

* * *

The front door creaked open with a great sigh of relief "Finally," said Terry "It's good to be home!"

The tall male dropped his duffle bag and suitcases at the door, still speaking "I swear, I'll never get used to you living in a treehouse. I couldn't believe you when you said-Phoenix?"

Terry had noticed that he wasn't getting a response from his son. Rather, the younger man was sitting in the center of the front room, preoccupied by the cardboard box before him. The smaller man made tiny grunts as he struggled to pull off more bits of cardboard and tape, revealing a block of styrofoam. His crystal blue eyes glanced at his father before he quickly panted "Dad, how on Earth do you get this thing open?!"

Terry furrowed his brows and waltzed over to the scene, several questions bubbling in his mind with every step. He kneeled down beside his son and asked "What's this? Something from Harper?" he added that last question when he glanced at the torn up stamp near his foot.

Phoenix stared at his father in bewilderment "It's the package you sent me!"

The hefty man only squinted in deeper confusion "I didn't send you anything," he said "What made you think that?"

Phoenix picked up a discarded sheet of cardboard "There's no return address," he stated, showing the information on the piece of cardboard.

Terry took the flimsy material in his hand and looked at it for verification. Sure enough, there was no return address. He set it aside "Well…" he said "I was gonna suggest we watch Netflix, but you seem pretty invested in this package."

He placed his hand on the cube of white styrofoam that was left when the cardboard was removed "So I'll help you out," he said, shrugging.

* * *

"... _Perhaps it was a symptom of having such a simplistic lifestyle, but I always had a burning curiosity. Sure, I knew when to back away from an unsafe situation, but that package was anything but dangerous. I felt bad for making my dad help me open it after he just came back from an exhausting tour. At least it was an opportunity for him to tell me what he had experienced while on the road. And he had a lot of time to tell me because we didn't get that package open until that dark hours of the evening. The box, itself, started out about the size of a nightstand, but there were so many layers of tough styrofoam that took hours to break down. Both Dad and I had to run back and forth from the kitchen to get better, stronger knives. We kept asking aloud "What could they be trying to mail me?!" and "Is this even real styrofoam or cement?" We even started to believe that it was a prank or that maybe there was a packaging error. But we did reach the end at some point. In a tiny case no bigger than a Clove case, we found_ …"

* * *

"Three frickin' rings," Terry stated bluntly, his distaste very evident.

Inside the tiny square box, three golden rings sat on a pillow of cotton. All three were flower shaped, the bud being a gem that held a fleur symbol inside. One gem was pink, the second orange, and the third midnight blue.

Phoenix was speechless. He could only stare at the tiny box in his hands. Around him on the hardwood floors was a mess of cardboard, tape and styrofoam. The sounds of night creatures outside scuttling about teased and reminded him of how many hours he had wasted. "Unhappy" couldn't even surmise Phoenix's emotion right now.

Sighing through his nose, Terry sympathized with Phoenix's disappointment and devastation "Ugh, let's order take out and call it a night. Okay, Phoenix?"

Phoenix nodded in defeat "'kay."

* * *

"... _To say the least, I was more dumbfounded than disappointed. Nothing seemed to add up; a package was sent to the temple on my property with no return address and way too much styrofoam surrounding nothing but three little rings. Regardless, I felt the need to hang on to them until I got a proper explanation. We did as Dad planned and ordered Chinese food before turning in for the night. I went to bed with the box in my hands. While Dad peacefully slept the night away in his room, I sat in the dark, studying and toying with the rings. I kept telling myself that I should put them back in the box before I fall asleep to prevent losing them. But again, my burning curiosity got the better of me and I ended up analyzing the rings until I put myself to sleep_..."

* * *

Terry brushed his black fringe from his face as he roamed towards the front room, happy to finally get a good night's rest in. He had been awake for a while now and was wondering when his son would wake up. Terry decided to cut the young man some slack and clean up the mess of cardboard and styrofoam they had made the other night. He could only imagine the look of pure guilt and dissatisfaction Phoenix would show if he came downstairs to find the reminder of the previous night's failure.

When Terry finished throwing away the items, he looked back up at the staircase that led to Phoenix's open room. He noticed that something was off. The shape in Phoenix's bed was oddly lumpy and didn't resemble a human figure no matter how Terry tried to adjust his eyes.

Terry bit his lip, wondering if it was just his imagination trying to deceive him or if his eyes were correct " _It can't hurt to check_ ," he thought, taking a step towards the staircase that led to his son's open room.

The hefty man nearly jumped backwards when the black cat suddenly darted down the staircase "Goddamn…" he whispered to himself as he felt his heartbeat spike. He shook his head at how ridiculous it was for him to not only be scared by his son's house cat but then resume to curse it.

The father took one more step before he halted and nearly cried out in shock.

* * *

"... _I don't know what I was expecting when I was studying those rings. But it definitely wasn't to wake up to three women sleeping in my bed...or my dad having a minute panic attack for that matter_ …"

* * *

Phoenix opened up the refrigerator, humming a soft tune as he licked his lips. His blue eyes scoped across the brightly lit shelves until a frown settled on his features.

"Bianca!" he scolded, closing the refrigerator door for emphasis "Bianca, get over here!" When the young man didn't get a response, he sighed and began to turn around to search for the woman, but jumped back when said woman appeared before him on the kitchen counter.

"What're you yelling for?" she asked, spinning a silver spoon between her fingers "I'm right here, silly."

A curvaceous young Latina woman was seated on Phoenix's counter with her legs crossed over one another. Her auburn hair fell on her shoulders in luscious waves and was parted down the middle. One of the bangs framing her round face was a fiery orange. Her copper eyes, full of mischief and emotion, accented the smirk on her pink, plump lips. Her curvy figure adorned a form-fitting outfit of an orange T-shirt with pink hearts stretched over her heavy bust and khaki capris that hugged her thick legs. To match her hair, her feet were clad in a pair of bright orange sneakers and a faint orange fleur symbol crowned her forehead, partially hidden by her orange hair bang.

Phoenix scowled "You ate the entire parfait," he said plainly.

After taking a final lick of the spoon, Bianca feigned a shocked expression "Who? Me?" she then casually tossed the spoon into the sink "How rude of you to accuse me!" she joked, imitating a posh Southern Belle.

"Fleurs don't even have to eat!" chided Phoenix, ignoring Bianca's statement.

"Calypso tempted me and asked me to split it," Bianca sighed "Apparently her definition of "split" is to take three quarters of it."

"Bianca, I was saving that for this morning," whined Phoenix.

"Relax, Phoenix. Stop being so melodramatic," waved off Bianca "You can get another."

The young man grabbed Erin's hand "And you're gonna help me," he said "Since I bought it out of my own pocket."

The brunette woman went along with Phoenix's motions as they approached the door "Fine by me. I'm pretty bored of just sitting around."

* * *

"... _Fleurs are an all-female race that used to inhabit Earth. Even though they have human forms, they're apparently formed from this special flower also called a "fleur" that is the very center of their being. They're somewhat like magical girls because they have special powers. They don't have to eat, drink, or rest, but they're not immortal. They age differently than humans, letting them live longer, but not forever. Bianca is one of them and, oddly enough, my new housemate_ …"

* * *

Phoenix used his own car to drive down the road to cut around The Mall. In the passenger seat, Bianca looked out of the window, intrigued by the many shops that passed her view.

"I should have asked you to teleport us there," said Phoenix.

"I already told you that Fleurs don't teleport. Some just have the ability to move fast, but only a short distance," explained Bianca "It takes a lot of energy-oh, hold up, there's Aurora and Calypso!"

Phoenix slowed down as he noticed two figures in the distance, glad that Bianca said something before he could pass them. He was able to come to a perfect halt right beside the females.

Aurora and Calypso stopped as Phoenix rolled down the windows "Hi guys. Do you need a ride?" he asked.

"More like directions," said Aurora. She was a slender black woman with minor curves. Her charcoal black hair rested in tiny, neat curls pulled back into a round ponytail. She wore a loose blue tank top that was tied at the end, revealing a blue fleur symbol around her navel. Her long legs adorned a pair of faded blue jeans, and the tips of black boots poked out from the bottom of her pants legs.

"Directions?" questioned Phoenix "Where are you trying to go?"

"Back home, actually," answered Calypso "We wanted to take a walk and explore the city, but then we got lost." Calypso was the shorter woman, which was very evident standing next to Aurora. She had raven black hair held by a hair clip with side bangs framing her face. Like Phoenix, she was Asian, however her skin held a more olive colored tone. Her dark eyes with perfectly applied eyeliner were framed by a pair of red glasses. Although petite, there were defined muscles on her body. Her pink sleeveless turtleneck exposed her fit arms and her black yoga pants emphasized her shapely legs. She also had red high tops, which seemed to match not only her hair clip but the rouge fleur symbols on the backs of her hands.

Phoenix unlocked the door "I hope you don't mind stopping by the grocery store, first," he said.

Aurora stepped in, saying "As long as you don't mind us getting a few snacks for ourselves."

"A spring salad sounds great right about now," Calypso added as she slid in and closed the door.

"You said Fleurs don't even get hungry," complained Phoenix "And besides, this is just supposed to replace the food Bianca and Calypso ate."

Aurora crossed her arms and uttered "Something tells me most of that blame falls on Calypso."

The shorter woman innocently chewed on her thumbnail.

* * *

"... _Aurora and Calypso are the other two Fleurs I now live with. The three girls, altogether, had been encased in those rings for years, but someone was able to mail them to me. Because the Fleurs were stuck in the rings, they were unable to see who it was that sent them. Of course I asked "Why send them to me? What do I have to do with them?" but then I realized that it might have to do with the yellow fleur symbol that's been growing on my chest these past few days_."


	2. Let's Just Be Honest

" _The Fleurs' integration into Mistford wasn't as dramatic as Dad and I feared. Even though this town has had its fair share of run-ins with the paranormal, the Fleurs were still a concern. Thankfully, they made a point to hide their powers and hardly roamed the town. The Fleurs were hardly ever in my house either. I always wondered where they were if not in town or in the treehouse. My question was answered when the Telepad was brought into my house_..."

* * *

Phoenix rushed into the house with a plastic bag full of various hair products and other supplies. Without hesitation, he plopped the bag onto the kitchen island and swiftly ran the sink water.

"This thing won't come out in the shower," the young man muttered as he bitterly touched the lock of blond hair "Maybe Harper was right. Maybe it  _is_  hair dye," he then began setting the hair supplies on the island counter "If he is, I'm going to have to take it out."

Phoenix then idly lifted his Clove up to his face "Siri, how do you remove hair dye?" he asked with slight haste.

A small hologram of a woman formed above the screen of his Clove, standing as though the screen were her stage. Although three-dimensional, her design shadowed that of an anime woman, her business suit even holding some homage to the stereotypical Japanese school uniform " _Intriguing question. Let me search for all sources for hair dye removal_ ," despite her design, she spoke in a posh English accent.

Phoenix allowed his eyes to roam his open home for a few seconds, taking in what he had ignored in his rush to get inside. When Siri beeped in alert and began to summarize a single solution based on the best answers she had found, Phoenix had not heard it.

There, on the floor, was an obnoxiously bright green object in the shape of a lily pad imbedded into the hardwood. It was about four times the size of a doormat, but stuck out much more blatantly than one.

The young man dropped his arm, which instantly shut Siri off and began approaching the strange object. He was unsure whether to consider the item harmless or hazardous. As he began to close the distance between it and himself, a brief thought of his foot being electrocuted ran through his mind. Then, of course, he remembered that he never took off his shoes when he entered the house and that such a thing would be unlikely to happen.

Just as he was mere inches away from the object, it suddenly glowed brightly. Quiet murmurs of conversation arose from it and grew louder. The murmurs only lasted half of a second, but Phoenix instantly recognized the voices. He watched as beautiful, tiny lily petals swirled about and formed the three women who were speaking.

Aurora shivered "I'll never get used to the Telepad. Just that feeling of being taken apart in one place and put back together in another is so...ugh."

"Eh, it's all in your head," cooly said Calypso as she brushed a little dirt off of herself.

Bianca was the first one to turn around and notice Phoenix. She grinned, placing her hands on her hips "Well guys, looks like we don't have to wait to tell him."

At that, the other two black-haired women turned around to face Phoenix.

Aurora muttered a "D'ah shit…" under her breath as her knees buckled.

Even more shocked than before, Phoenix gasped "Guys...guys, what did you do?!"

"It's a Telepad," said Bianca, tapping her sneaker on the device "Like it?"

"No, I mean, I-!" Phoenix spoke without thinking, clearly still in disbelief "What is it doing  _here_  in my  _house_?!"

"Well, some of our missions require us to transverse worlds," explained Calypso "With the Telepad, we can do just that."

Phoenix now frowned in dissatisfaction "That still doesn't explain why it's  _in my house_ ," he said through gritted teeth.

"We didn't think you'd mind," Aurora defended, almost in an accusatory tone "I mean, we figured since we'd be living here now, we might as well plant it here."

Bianca arched a brow "Who's "we"?" she snorted "You're the one who suggested we plant it here."

Startled, the slender woman retorted "Don't throw me under the bus!"

"I wanted to plant it by the river," said Calypso, who stood completely unaffected by the heated exchange between the Fleurs at her sides "But it was still a good idea to plant it here. We are in a treehouse, after all."

Aurora's scowl turned into a sly smirk. Bianca rolled her eyes.

Phoenix sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose "I think you should at least include me on your missions and agenda before you start planting devices in my house."

"We already told you, Phoenix. What we do is none of your business," stated Aurora "Unless these other worldly affairs impact you, you don't need to know. All we ask is that you give us a place to stay in return."

Although the man had no problem with the latter condition, the former put him on edge.

* * *

"... _That's been a pretty common thing lately: information being blatantly withheld from me. No matter how much I tried to urge the Fleurs to tell me about what they're doing when I'm not around, they seemed to be sworn into secrecy with one another. When I asked why they were "transversing worlds", they casually told me that they were going on these missions. They then went on to explain that on these missions, they fight monsters of some kind. I guess this is the real deal then; I'm officially living with magical girls, intergalactic guardians even. Still, I just wished they would be honest with me. It couldn't really hurt if I knew what they were doing, right_ …?"

* * *

"Hey, Phoenix what've you got here?" asked Bianca as she took a seat on one of the three barstools at the kitchen island. After their debate had ended, the brunette naturally moved on to a more casual topic "Thinking of running a hair salon?"

"No," said Phoenix, walking around the other side of the island and turning off the water once he realized that he had left it running "I'm fixing this blond streak," he said, tugging at the lock of hair "Apparently, someone thought it would be really funny to dye my hair blond."

The young man expected a sassy comment from Bianca, but to his surprise, the woman seemed to frown, biting the inside of her cheek. Aurora, who had seated herself beside Bianca, also grew a look of discomfort.

Perplexed, Phoenix questioned "Is something the matter?"

Both Fleurs perked up at the words, then exchanged a quick glance.

"N-No," stammered Aurora, nervously pulling a curl of hair "I'm fine."

"Yeah," agreed Bianca, trying to get back her upbeat attitude "Nothing's wrong."

The harsh crack of someone taking a bite into something broke the uneasy atmosphere "No, something  _is_  wrong."

Phoenix jumped when he realized that Calypso had been standing behind him, cooly leaning on the counter next to the refrigerator while she casually dined on carrot sticks. Had her statement not been so concerning, Phoenix would have found her nonchalance comedic.

" _She probably has no idea how mysterious and quiet she is_ ," thought Phoenix " _She scared me half to death_ …"

Bianca nervously chuckled "Heh? What do you mean, Calypso?" Although Phoenix couldn't see it, the brunette was wearing a worried expression.

"I mean, Phoenix doesn't realize that he's a Fleur," Calypso took another bite of the carrot stick, able to speak through it and sound as if there was nothing in her mouth in the first place "That's what's wrong."

Phoenix sputtered wordlessly, shocked by what he had just heard " _How did she know?!_ " his mind raced " _Is she really so muted that she found out about my fleur symbol without me noticing?_ "

"Calypso…!" he heard Aurora gasp behind him.

The Asian woman's glance moved just over Phoenix's shoulder "He would become aware eventually," she said "Or did you already know?" Her gaze was back on Phoenix, which sent a shiver up his spine. Calypso's impact on the room made him question if she could be considered a comrade or an enemy.

In spite of himself, Phoenix's hand crept up to his shirt collar and gently tugged the buttons undone. Without a word, he revealed the golden fleur symbol painted on his chest like a tattoo.

The body language was enough for Bianca to understand "Wait, so you _do_ have your Fleur Bud?!" she nearly exclaimed, causing Aurora to jolt and say "Phoenix, why didn't you say anything?!"

The targeted man sighed, turning sideways so he could speak to all three Fleurs "You said Fleurs were an all-female race," he said, uncertainty written in his features "So…I didn't exactly believe that I was a Fleur. It wouldn't make sense. I figured, maybe, it was some kind of prank, like the hair dye."

" _That's_  your reason?!" Bianca questioned in disbelief.

Phoenix opened his mouth to reply, but Aurora cut him off "Even if you thought it was a joke, you should've run it by us!"

"Phoenix, you can't keep information like this from us," added Calypso, though, not as shaken as the other females "You have to tell us everything."

The male frowned "Oh,  _I_  have to tell you everything?" he questioned, staring down at the shorter female.

Sensing the danger, Aurora began to step out of her chair "Phoenix, wait…" Bianca's eyes simply widened in fear.

"I'm not the one keeping secrets around here," continued the man, disregarding the worried energy of the Fleurs behind him.

"It's for your own good," insisted Calypso, keeping her authoritative front "There are certain things just you can't know yet."

"Yet? Then when?"

The shorter woman sighed through her nose, looking down "I can't say for sure," she said "You just have to trust us until further notice."

The male's eyes widened "Trust you?"

"Phoenix, seriously man, chill," interjected Bianca, now taking a hold of his shoulder.

The young man turned around again "You know, I was okay with letting you guys stay here, but you're not really giving me a reason to trust you," he said, considerably calmer, but still unsettled "All I ask for in return is the answers to my questions, and you guys just shut me down instead. How am I supposed to feel comfortable with you guys living here when you sneak around and hide everything from me in my own house? I don't even know why you're here!"

"We're here to protect you."

"From what?"

Calypso said nothing.

The taller man shook his head "Exactly my point…" Without another word, Phoenix walked out of the kitchen and eventually out of the house. All the while, the three Fleurs allowed him to do so. They didn't speak until they were fully confident that Phoenix wasn't coming back inside.

"Ugh…!" Aurora groaned, clutching her fists at her sides "I can't believe that's Nari's son. Why didn't he turn out patient and cool like her? Instead he's got a pole up his-"

"Hush, Aurora," hissed Calypso, picking the carrot sticks that she had set aside during the argument back up "Remember that he's half of Nari. If you insult him, you insult her."

The slender woman simply grumbled muttered curses as she crossed her arms.

"Calypso, he didn't mean it. He was just upset," reasoned Bianca, holding Calypso's arms as if the tiny woman would go after Phoenix, despite the man already being out of the house.

"I know, I know," reassured Calypso in a tone that made it clear that instances like this had occurred even before they met Phoenix "I'm being easy on him because, like I said, he's half of Nari."

At that, Bianca seemed to relax.

* * *

"... _I don't know exactly what cause me to snap like that. I really shouldn't have. I know now that the Fleurs were doing their best and working hard for me. Their move in with me was just so nerve-racking. One day, I wake up to find three women in my room and have them tell me that they'll be living with me for a short time. I never get the chance to understand who they are and really get to know them. And the fact that they were magical girls and supposedly using my house as a base just made me more agitated. I didn't get to know anything about them and their agenda. I just had to live with it, but I know now that it wasn't the Fleurs' fault_ …"

* * *

Phoenix was sleeping fitfully in his bed, disturbing his cat with the sound of his tossing and turning. Finally, he woke up, the thoughts of that previous afternoon swarming about in his head, most of them from guilt.

" _That was inexcusable_ ," he mentally berated himself " _They did nothing wrong, but I lost my temper anyway._ " He then sat up in bed "I have to apologize."

Just as that thought ran through his mind, a familiar sound reached his ears: the Telepad. Over the sound of the white noise machine, he didn't hear the soft scuttles of feet nor the small, hushed whispers, but he did hear the high-pitched whir of the Telepad. When he looked down at the lower level of his home, three figures dissipated into lily petals as a bright green light glowed in the darkness.

Without a second thought, Phoenix hopped out of bed and went down the stairs. He then slowed his pace when he heard the soft snoring of his father sleeping in the guest room.

When he approached the Telepad, he took a pensive step as if it would lift off of the floor and send him tumbling. Phoenix stood on it uneasily, looking around the room as if he were being judged for his decision "Let's see...there's no switch or button of any kind…" He studied the device carefully as he whispered to himself "And I didn't see them use a remote or password."

Phoenix stood fully erect on the Telepad after crouching for so long "I just wish I knew how to travel on this thing."

Suddenly, he felt himself grow lighter and lighter in weight. He lifted his hand up to his face, only to gasp in horror as he saw his fingers turning into lily petals and fluttered away into nonexistence. Only half of a surprised cry was able to ring through the house before Phoenix was gone.

* * *

Phoenix fell to his knees, not from a sudden force, but from lack of balance. Pain ringed in his knees when they hit the hard surface of the Telepad. When he look down on it, his immediate thought was " _I'm still home?_ " However, when he lifted his head, he found himself in a classroom, but not just any classroom.

"M-My old schoolhouse…? the young man said barely above a whisper. He stood up, quietly and carefully. The room was quiet, save for the low hum of the air conditioner, which Phoenix remembered fondly.

The raven-haired man took it all in. As he walked down the aisle, he ran his fingertips across the smooth surface of the small desks, his bare feet sticking to the linoleum floors with each step. He remembered each classmate that sat in each desk. Some of which stayed throughout all years of school, watching one another grow from children to young adults. Some only stayed for a short amount of time and were replaced by new faces.

Once Phoenix got to the front of the classroom, he then asked the burning question "But why am I here?" He didn't realized that he had touched the DigiBoard, thus turning it on.

Immediately, the screen displayed text in the same format it had years ago when Phoenix's class would take notes: " _Lessons in Fleur Technology_."

This only succeeded in further confusing Phoenix. As he did many years ago, the pale young man pressed the "Next Slide" button for further investigation.

" _Telepad: a teleportation device used for instant, long-distance travel. In order to grow one, one must plant it near plant life. The Telepad will grow within 2-4 hours. After that, it is ready for use. One can use the Telepad simply by stepping on the pad and thinking of a location_."

After Phoenix finished reading the text, something about the last sentence stuck out to him " _I didn't think of my schoolhouse_ ," his blue eyes then widened " _But I did ask to be told how to use the Telepad_."

He looked back at the device, which sat awkwardly in the back corner of the classroom " _So it took me to a place where I could learn how to use it?_ " he looked back at the DigiBoard, knowing that it was impossible for such a slide to exist " _It took the school's environment and changed it so that it could match my request_..." Feeling intrigued, Phoenix decided to explore the schoolhouse a little bit more, wondering what else could have been changed.

He walked over to the door on his left and swung it open without a care. When he took a step outside, though, he didn't expect his feet to touch the moist dew of morning grass.

Phoenix flinched, nearly falling backwards in surprise from the weird sensation. His surprise didn't fade when he studied the grass even more.

It was golden, but rather than resembling old grass that grew yellow with age, it seemed to resemble blond hair or even silk. A gentle breeze caressed Phoenix's face and introduced the sweet scent of Magnolia to his nostrils. As he looked up, he saw a seemingly endless field of the golden grass, dancing in the breeze. The sky, itself, was also a hazy yellow, as if the sun were playing hide and seek among the clouds.

Phoenix stepped outside, no longer fearful but entranced, as he let the door behind him close and disappear into a puff of smoke.

"Where...where am I?" he finally asked aloud after aimlessly walking for an extended amount of time "Am I still dreaming? Did I ever really go to the Telepad at all?" The atmosphere was so calming, Phoenix actually didn't care that his questions were going unanswered. For the first time in his life, he was feeling a level of peace that he had never experienced before. It was almost overwhelming.

He sighed, relishing in the coolness of the breeze. Even when he noticed a contrastingly warm feeling in his chest, he took it lightly. Even when he realized that it was his bud glowing brightly through his nightshirt, he didn't panic. He simply looked on in curiosity.

"What's happening here?" he asked.

Phoenix looked away from his chest and back up. When he was walking in his euphoria, he wasn't very aware of what his surroundings held. He saw a field of golden grass as nothing but a repeated landmark, but then he saw something different. There was a hill.

On the petite hill was a bed with elegant golden bedsheets, a yellow tree that shadowed the bed with its leaves and other small items.

Phoenix walked closer to get a better view. Walking became jogging. Jogging turned into running. Something was drawing him to the hill and it wasn't just his curiosity. With every step, his bud glowed brighter and brighter, nearly blinding him.

Finally, he had reached the top. The bud's light calmed to a dim shimmer.

The first thing Phoenix noticed was a T-shirt hanging from a tree branch. It was blue with a particular logo on it. He could vaguely see that it read "The Gift of Gab".

He didn't dare pluck it from the tree, but he noticed that it was small and in a woman's cut.

He then walked back to the bed, which he was surprised to see was not littered by dead leaves from the tree above. Phoenix then noticed a sword pierced straight through the ground behind the bed frame. Like everything else there, it was golden. The handle resembled that of tree bark, though, brown and rough to the touch. The blade was thick and heavy. Standing up, the sword alone reached Phoenix's navel.

Phoenix scooted over on the bed so that he'd be sitting by the nightstand. Like the sword handle, the nightstand was the only thing that wasn't yellow in this world, but instead was a dark wood. Before opening any of the drawers, Phoenix lifted up a picture that had been knocked down. Upon looking at the faces in the picture, Phoenix's heart sank to his feet. His euphoria was gone and he was broken out of his haze.

It was a wedding picture with several faces that he instantly recognized. In the back were unrecognizable faces. However, Phoenix's attention was more focused on the two people in the front, the ones purposely posing for the picture. On the left was Phoenix's father, Terry. In Terry's arms was a woman, the bride. Like Terry and Phoenix, the woman was Asian, but her skin was more pale like Phoenix. Her elegant black hair was blond on the underside. Her striking blue eyes lifted with her smile, glee evident in her features. Everybody else looked rather shabby in the poor lighting and low quality camera shot, but the woman was almost unrealistically perfect.

Phoenix began to focus on the bride. At first, he began to question his father's ambiguous love life. Then, he noticed a more jarring detail; her hair.  _Her hair_.

The young man reached up and grabbed where he knew his blond streak was. Even though it was impossible, he had sworn he felt a shock through his fingers.

The answer was obvious, but Phoenix was reluctant to believe it. So he sat there, staring at the picture, running his mind in circles as he tried to think of another explanation. He couldn't.

" _That's why…earlier today_ …" he thought " _Calypso said that after I mentioned my hair. That's why Bianca and Aurora acted so weird_."

"They knew," he said aloud.

Suddenly, the sound of a familiar female voice cut through the peaceful air "Stop right there!"

Phoenix didn't move, but did recognize the voice as Aurora.

Behind him, Aurora, Bianca, and Calypso approached the hill, unaware that it was Phoenix who was sitting on the bed. Each had their weapons out ready to strike, Aurora with her spear, Bianca with her whip, and Calypso with a pair of steel fans.

"You've got a lot of nerve trespassing into Nari's room," said Bianca, rolling up her whip to keep it from trailing behind.

Phoenix didn't even care that the Fleurs had not recognized him. He didn't care that they had thought that he was an intruder of some some sort. Just as the trio reached the bottom of the hill, that's when Phoenix turned around. The three Fleurs halted in place, staring up at the young man holding the wedding picture close to his chest.

"So," he said with a cold voice "This is my mother."

Calypso sighed, withdrawing her steel fans "Yes," she said.

"And you knew her," said Phoenix "You said her name."

Again Calypso said "Yes. Her name was Nari Magnolia."

* * *

"... _The way my mother passed away wasn't uncommon. Death during childbirth due to weak health was apparently something even Fleurs could be subject to. Dad already told me about her death a long time ago, but I didn't feel any sense of loss until I stepped into her room and saw who she was_ …"

* * *

Phoenix sat on the bed while the Fleurs took different spots on the hill, discussing the issue at hand. Aurora stood in front of Phoenix. Bianca sat on the edge of the hill, lazily kicked her feet. Calypso leaned against the yellow tree trunk, seeming to get very comfortable there.

Phoenix, now in a much better mood, asked "So, this is my mom's room?"

"Yeah," said Aurora "And as her son, it's technically yours, too."

Bianca took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled with a happy sigh "Man, it's been so long since Nari's ever let us in her room."

Calypso hummed serenely in agreement.

"But wait," said Phoenix "The room wasn't always like this. Just a minute ago, I went through my old private school."

"That's the thing about our rooms," explained Aurora "You can change it however you want. We can do the same with our rooms. It doesn't have to stay this way all the time."

"Go ahead, Phoenix. Ask for something," said Bianca, looking up at the male "It's like a genie in a bottle. Whatever you wish for, you get it."

"Except there's no catch," said Aurora.

"The catch is you can't summon real food that you can eat," said Calypso "But I suppose that's because Fleurs don't have to eat."

After that statement, all eyes were on Phoenix as they waited for him to change something. Feeling their gaze, the young man pondered what to change. Something small? Something dramatic?

"We're waiting," said Bianca.

Encouraged by the ignorant statement, Phoenix decided on the latter.

Within seconds, the field around them morphed into what appeared to be a library solely made for music. CDs lined extensive shelves with CD players and headphones provided. Unlike a music store, however, there was no door or place for the cashier to reside.

Aurora grinned "Good work," she said, ruffling Phoenix's hair.

Phoenix felt a little embarrassed by the action, but also appreciated the gesture.

Bianca whistled "Cool!" as Calypso nodded in approval.

The brunette jumped to her feet and hurried down one of the aisles "Now if you wanna impress me, you'd have Nicki Minaj down here."

Aurora snorted "Pfft, she's, like, from the 2010's," as she followed.

"Hey, you still listen to Mardi Gras, and they're from 2055!" Bianca's voice echoed down the aisle.

"At least my band is still alive!"

"Too soon!"

Phoenix chuckled, noticing Calypso also laughing at her teammates' bantering. She looked over at Phoenix, a grin still on her face. Phoenix quickly turned away, acting as though he had never been looking at her in the first place. He couldn't keep his gaze away when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Starting tomorrow, you can start helping us on our missions," she then added "If you'd like to."

Phoenix blinked in surprise "I-I can?"

"Yes," said Calypso with an accepting nod "You're right, Phoenix. It's not fair keeping all of these secrets. From now on, we'll be honest and trust each other. Deal?"

Phoenix felt Calypso's smile reflecting itself on his own face "Deal," he said, contently.


	3. Keep me Grounded

A young woman adjusted her glasses worriedly as she glanced at the cash register. Her long hair fell on her small frame in two low ponytails, the brown color nearly mirroring the pigmentation of her skin.

Harper returned back to their post after serving a customer and noticed the girl's struggle "Is it still broken, Malaya?"

She stole a quick glance at her coworker before returning her eyes to the cash register "I'm afraid so," she said "I don't understand why the screen is still black."

The rose-haired male peaked over the woman's shoulder to take a look at the register "I can have it replaced," he said after only a few seconds "Until then, we'll just share mine."

Just then, the familiar jingle of the bell caught both adults' attention. As usual, it was Phoenix.

Malaya, who had been informed by the other workers of the daily customer, grinned and patted Harper's shoulder "Well, I guess that's your cue to start your lunch break."

Harper returned the grin and left the counter once again "Phoenix! C'mere you smooth casanova."

Phoenix, who had been approaching his friend with an open wave, now squinted in confusion and shied away his hand "What did you just call me?"

"Ah, don't pretend you don't know," said Harper, slinging an arm around Phoenix to lead him to their usual table "The whole town's talking about it."

"About what?" Phoenix asked, his already marble white skin paling at the idea of himself being the subject of a rumor.

"Your new roommates," answered Harper as he seated himself across from Phoenix.

The ink-haired man's jaw nearly dropped "How did everyone know?!" He meant to leave that statement as a thought before it flew from his lips, but he couldn't contain it.

"You've lived here as long as I have, Phoenix," said the rose-haired male "You know that in Mistford, your business and everyone's business."

The paler skinned man knew his friend was right. In a small town like Mistford, privacy was hard to keep. He never saw it as a bad thing, but he surely didn't want his hometown knowing of his experience waking up to three Fleurs in his bed.

"Who knew my friend Phoenix could get to live with Lady Long Legs, an absolute doll face…" Harper whistled "And my favorite, a sexy redhead."

Phoenix had been pondering the idea of the small town spreading this rumor when Harper had spoken, but he tuned in at the last part of his sentence "H-Harper, oh my god!"

The tanned-skinned male snickered "Way to go, Phoenix. You're doing much better than me in the romance department."

"What happened to that one girl who used to live next door to you?" asked Phoenix "I thought you were going to date her."

"Katya?" questioned Harper, thankful that the conversation had moved to a safe zone "She moved."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Phoenix, his tone sympathetic "Did you get her Clove code? I mean, are you two still talking?"

"No, she just moved out of nowhere," explained Harper "I didn't find out she was gone until a neighbor told me two weeks later. Plus, I'm not sure she was interested in me."

"I'm sorry," repeated Phoenix.

After a second moment of awkward silence, Harper spoke up again "That doesn't mean I'm quitting now," he carefully leaned in and lowered his voice "See the new cashier?"

Phoenix took a glance at the bespectacled woman taking another customer's order with a gorgeous smile. She was definitely a new face to him.

"That's Malaya," whispered Harper, unable to hide his enthusiasm.

Phoenix rolled his eyes.

* * *

"... _Days like this brought me back to reality. Something as ordinary as visiting The Velvet Haven could keep me calm after dealing with stressful events. That's why Harper became more important to me as these years went by. He kept me grounded. He was the only thing really keeping me sane when I would go home to prepare myself for battle_ …"

* * *

"Hey buddy!"

Phoenix jumped, banging the back of his wrist on the drawer. He sighed when he realized it was just Bianca "A little warning would be nice."

"I just gave you one," said Bianca, taking a seat at the kitchen island "You making dinner?"

Phoenix threw the Fleur a tired look "It's twelve noon, so no," he said "I'm looking for weapons so I can help on your mission."

Bianca cocked a brow "In the kitchen?"

Phoenix raised hefty carving knife, which glistened in the kitchen light. In that exact moment, Aurora entered the house, immediately seeing Phoenix with the knife "Do I want to know what happened?" she asked wearily.

"Phoenix's looking for a weapon to fight with us on the next mission," explained Bianca.

Aurora chuckled, a hint of pride in her voice as she walked into the kitchen "Didn't your dad ever tell you not to run with knives?"

Phoenix shrugged "If we're going to be killing these monsters, I think a knife would be effective."

Both Aurora and Bianca held their smiles, as if trying to convince a child to side with his parents "Phoenix, these aren't your run-of-the-mill zombies from video games," said Aurora, casually sitting down beside Bianca "Do you know how big these Weeds are?"

The male furrowed his brow "I'm sorry, did you say "weeds"?"

"Sometimes they're Bugs, but most of the time they're Weeds," added Bianca, to which Aurora nodded.

Phoenix stared at the two females, enamored by how casually they discussed the topic as if they had done so everyday " _They probably do when I'm not around_ ," he thought briefly. Regardless, Phoenix asked "How big are they?"

Aurora hummed in thought "Eh...I'd say, like, school bus sized?"

Phoenix's crystal blue eyes widened significantly "Are...are you joking?"

"Of course not," snarked Aurora.

The male looked at the knife in his hand as he thought of the monster described. He felt his grip loosen and tremble as he reluctantly dropped the futile weapon back into the drawer "Well, what do you use?" he asked "You said Fleurs can summon weapons. So can you show me?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Bianca said, hopping out of her chair.

The brunette closed her eyes and lifted her head. As she hovered her hand over her forehead, her Fleur Bud began to glow a bright orange. From that light formed a shapeless blob. Phoenix watched as the light form began to solidify, trying to figure out just what Bianca was doing. Just as the form began to take a reasonable shape, Bianca quickly snatched the item and returned back to her normal position.

In her hand was a whip. The handle was a pink color similar to the hearts on her shirt. The whip, itself, was a fiery orange that seemed to glow.

Phoenix began to approach her, but Bianca snatched the whip away "Don't touch it," she said "Only I can touch it."

Phoenix scoffed in disbelief "Are you really that immature?"

"She's not kidding," said Aurora in defense "Some Fleurs have elemental powers. Bianca's is fire."

Phoenix looked back at the whip again and realized something. The whip wasn't glowing. There were flames surging through the inside of the rope. It held substance, making it look more like lava inside of a clear tube. He then looked at Bianca's hand, which remained unharmed. He then caught the Fleur's gaze.

"Yeah, Phoenix. It feels room temperature to me," Bianca then gave a lethal frown "Now, what was that about me being immature?"

"It's really 100 degrees fahrenheit," Aurora interrupted.

Phoenix's concerned look only increased in intensity. Even though he knew the woman before him wasn't human, he still couldn't fathom how she was holding the scalding weapon.

"Now you try," urged Aurora.

"What?"

"Try to summon your weapon," casually repeated Aurora.

Bianca nodded "Yeah, buddy, I wanna see what you've got," she pointed her whip in Phoenix's direction as she spoke, causing the male to instantly back away. Realizing the reason behind the reaction, the brunette Fleur muttered "My bad…"

Regardless, Phoenix straightened himself and copied Bianca's actions, holding his hand over his chest. He stood in silence as he concentrated and waited for results, but none came through. He then undid a few buttons on his shirt to reveal his Fleur Bud, seeing as Bianca's and Aurora's were always exposed no matter what. Still, no results.

Aurora stepped out of her chair "Here, we'll try together," she walked around and stepped in front of the young man "Just hold your hands like this...and think about what you want. You don't have to concentrate too hard...

Like Bianca, the Fleur Bud on Aurora's stomach glowed a deep blue color as her weapon formed. Phoenix was disappointed once again as he couldn't get the same results. However, disappointment turned into surprise when he noticed the blob growing into a much larger shape than Bianca's whip. He had to take a step back as it elongated in his direction.

"Sorry," said Aurora as she took hold of the object "I always try to summon the spear vertically to avoid that."

When the Fleur held the spear at her side, Phoenix could see that it was nearly her height. The handle was pitch black with a dark blue sheen wherever light touched it. Both ends of the spear were crystal blue and almost transparent. The top of the spear, however, also had a four-pointed star that seemed to shimmer. Like Bianca's whip, Phoenix had to take a second look to realize that there was actually something inside of Aurora's weapon; stars. Tiny stars swam inside the crystal star atop the spear.

This caused Phoenix to raise a brow "Wait, so what is your element?"

"The cosmos," Aurora then added "And no, it doesn't mean I can control space and time or anything like that."

"Would be pretty cool if you could, though," added Bianca with a sly grin.

* * *

It was pretty rare for Phoenix to catch Calypso laughing. That's not to say that she was a pessimist. She simply displayed her happiness in subtle ways, the way she does with all of her emotions. Even now, Calypso's laughter was muted. Her shoulders simply shook as she held up her hand over a smile. This is why Phoenix was very surprised to see the Fleur outright chuckle when she saw him...and also mildly embarrassed.

After realizing how rude the action was, Calypso cleared her throat and composed herself "So Phoenix, do you really think you would need that helmet?" she asked, the smile still teasing her lips.

"That's what I said!" Bianca blurted out as Aurora casually stepped onto the Telepad with Calypso.

Phoenix huffed "You just told me these monsters were bug-weed hybrids that were as big as a school bus. How else am I supposed to protect myself?"

"Well that bat was a good call," said Aurora, pointing at the wooden object in Phoenix's hand "Much better than the knife."

"Knife?" questioned Calypso "Phoenix, is their something wrong with your weapon?"

Before the young man could answer, Bianca interjected "He can't get his Fleur Bud to work," immediately crushing what ever ego he had left.

A subtle look of pity seemed to cross Calypso's stern eyes "Oh…" she said.

"It'll be fine," Bianca quipped as she took Phoenix's wrist and pulled him onto the Telepad "I'm sure he won't get eaten or crushed or anything."

Phoenix raised a brow at Bianca's taunt as the four began to disappear into lily petals.

* * *

"... _Now I know what you are all probably thinking as you read this: "Phoenix, why haven't you talked to your father about your mother at this point?" I'm embarrassed to say this, but one of the reasons was that I was so caught up in the upcoming mission that the conversation took a backseat in my mind. The fact that these missions were unplanned and spontaneous only gathered more of my concern. Another reason I figured my conversation could wait is that I knew how much talking about my mother hurt Dad. Just mentioning her put him in a somber mood. The idea of bringing up her "disappearance" would probably break him. I couldn't do that to Dad. If anything, I'd rather postpone that conversation as much as possible_..."

* * *

The four young adults spawned on the Telepad. Calypso took hold of Phoenix when he began to lose his balance again "Watch your step," she cooly said.

"Thanks," the young man said.

As Bianca and Aurora stepped off of the Telepad, Phoenix couldn't help but linger for a moment, taking in his surroundings. The land they appeared on was very rocky and lacked any signs of civilization. He immediately wondered if they had been transported to a mountain range of some sort, but Aurora's next words banished that thought: "Haven't we been to this planet before?"

A sinking feeling dropped into Phoenix's gut as he walked, now looking at the broken rocks and cloudy skies with the knowledge that he was no longer on Earth. " _Oh yeah_ ," he thought to himself " _Calypso said they used the Telepad to transverse entire worlds_."

He was aware that the Fleur Girls were casually chatting in front of him, but he couldn't help but stutter "G-Guys, how far away from Earth are we?"

Bianca laughed "Way out of our galaxy, bud."

Phoenix nearly gagged at Bianca's remark "We're out of the galaxy?!"

Calypso, sensing Phoenix's distress, waved Bianca off "No, we haven't left our galaxy," she said, purposely pausing to watch Phoenix sigh in relief "We left our universe."

"What?!"

Calypso didn't even attempt to hide her satisfied smile in her eyes "I bet you didn't know there were multiple universes, did you?" she hummed.

Aurora spoke up "Guys, we're getting side-tracked," she said "We need to try to listen out for this monster."

Still with humor in her eyes, Calypso said "Aurora's right," and began to walk ahead "If we really want Phoenix to get used to using his Fleur Bud to fight, we have to make these missions count."

The four walked in silence for a while, Phoenix uncomfortably adjusting his bike helmet the entire way through. He began to grow more insecure the longer he wore it. Doubt swam through his mind " _There's no way I'm cut out for this_ ," he looked at the three Fleurs walking ahead of him, ready to fight. Then he thought of how pitiful he must have looked in comparison, toting around a measly baseball bat that he had never used before. " _I'm just an ordinary guy. There's nothing special about me_."

"Shh," Calypso suddenly hissed as she stopped and pushed her finger to her lips. The other three froze in place, listening and waiting.

A quiet guttural groan could be heard in the distance. It made Phoenix's skin crawl to think of what kind of creature could cause such an unholy sound.

"C'mon," hushed Calypso as she starting running. Aurora and Bianca bounded after her, determination etched into Bianca's features the most. Phoenix felt a slight reluctance to go, but the pull of the Fleur Girls' sprinting forced him to follow. He braced himself, trying to steady his nerves to get into a serious mindset " _This is it_ ," he thought, trying to convince himself of his own bravery and swatting away his doubts from earlier.

As Phoenix ran to follow the three Fleurs, he noticed the clouds seeming to spill downward and create a fog. This didn't surprise him. The already cloudy weather prepared him to suspect fog. However, he grew concerned when the fog started to thicken at an oddly fast rate. It was becoming difficult to see in front of him and tell which direction he was going in. Eventually, his sight of the Fleur Girls got swallowed up by fog. He couldn't even hear their footfalls anymore.

He slowed down "Calypso?" he called out "Aurora? Bianca?"

He faintly heard their replies, each sounding just as confused as him " _Did they get lost too?_ " he wondered " _But how did…?_ "

"Hmm? What's this? It looks like someone found their way into my smoke and mirrors trap..."

Phoenix swatted his ear at the voice and looked around in all directions. Of course, he didn't see anyone, but he also didn't feel the presence of another person. What concerned Phoenix the most was how foreign the male voice was to him. The velvet baritone seemed to be so close to him, almost as if it were in his head.

"Who's there?" Phoenix spat before trying to call out to the Fleur Girls again "Bianca! Calypso!"

The voice returned with a chuckle "As much as I love to give a grand introduction, I think I'd rather wait until you've solved my puzzle," another chuckle " _If_  you solve my puzzle."

Phoenix began to walk again, but after a few steps, he immediately crashed into a hard surface, falling backwards. He groaned as pain racked his front and looked up to see what he could have bumped into.

What he saw was himself. No, not himself, but a reflection.

"A mirror?" he questioned as he picked himself up. He turned around to look around himself. Amongst the fog were countless reflections that mimicked his actions "A mirror maze?"

Phoenix questioned the logic to himself, but realized that he would be wasting time " _I've got to find the Fleur Girls_ ," he realized " _They probably have an explanation_." Despite the oddness of the situation, Phoenix couldn't find himself intimidated. The mirror maze appeared benign and familiar. However, that didn't mean that he decided to slack off.

The ink-haired man then started running through the maze. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in bruising himself even further by running into mirror walls. Even when Phoenix slowed to a brisk walk, the fog made it impossible for him to properly perceive the distance of each mirror. He couldn't see his reflection until it was too late.

In a fit of frustration, the young man snatched his helmet off of his head and tossed it aside. He jumped when he heard the mirror smash beside him, his immediate instinct to feel guilty kicking in.

"Phoenix…?"

The ink-haired man turned around and looked down the new pathway created for him. Down the hallway of mirrors was Calypso with a shocked expression on her face-or rather, as shocked as her stoic features could pull off.

Phoenix hurried to the Fleur "Calypso, what's going on?"

"I...I don't know," said Calypso, slowly falling to her knees as her body gave out "What I do know is…ugh…these mirrors are made of Herbicide Crystal. They make us…," she groaned, struggling to get out the proper words "I can't...I can't use my fans."

Phoenix looked down and noticed her once vibrant Fleur Bud was now a dull grey. He then looked at the mirrors around them as the cogs started turning in his mind "Save your energy, Calypso," he said, patting her shoulder "Just cover your head for now."

The weak Fleur questioned "What…?" just as Phoenix raised his bat to smash a mirror behind her. Now understanding what the young man meant, she obeyed and ducked to protect herself from any flying shards of glass.

Calypso was surprised to feel some of her strength returning. She listened as the young man continued to break more surrounding mirrors, gradually returning more and more of her strength. When she no longer heard the screech of broken glass, she looked up, seeing all of the clearings Phoenix had made for her.

The man, himself, was leaning against a single mirror, his shoulders rising and falling as he panted from the sudden energy exertion. Phoenix looked back at Calypso "Are you alright?" he asked.

The Fleur nodded, a subtle smile on her face "Yes," she said "Thank you."

Phoenix continued this process for a while, hoping to find the other two Fleurs before escaping the maze. He grew tired often and his shoulders ached, but he kept going because of what was at stake. He was thankful when enough mirrors were broken for Calypso to regain her Fleur power and use her fans to break even more mirrors.

"We...still didn't...find...the…"

"Forget about the monster!" interrupted Aurora.

When Phoenix had found the other two Fleurs, the four stood amongst the pile of broken glass and the still standing mirrors left behind. At this rate, Phoenix was exhausted and breathless, but he was still set on the mission ahead of him, the adrenaline fueling his determination.

"You've done enough for us today," continued Aurora "If you want to go home and leave the rest of this mission to us, I don't blame you."

"Aww, how touching," the voice returned and Phoenix practically jumped to life. By the look on the Fleur Girls' faces, Phoenix could tell that he wasn't the only one who could hear it. He wasn't sure whether or not he should be grateful.

The glass shards of the mirrors Phoenix broke began to rise and swirl before them. Meanwhile, the remaining intact mirrors began to fold into what appeared to be a throne. The Fleur Girls stood in front of Phoenix, their weapons wielded as the glass shards solidified into the shape of a man "It almost makes me feel, dare I say, guilty."

The handsome man sitting on the throne of mirrors was thin and tall, similar to Phoenix's build. He held a dapper appearance. He crossed his legs, proudly showing off his well fitted black slacks and black loafers. He also wore a scarlet red suit jacket, unbuttoned just enough to show some of the intricately patterned shirt underneath. Under his fedora was a bed of rouge hair that held a slight wave to it. It stopped just under his ears, revealing his red and green stud earrings. His eyes were a devilish green, one of them concealed by an eyepatch. He seemed to be a youthful man, but his height and overall elegance would fool one into thinking otherwise.

"What the-who are you?!" Bianca spat.

The man pointed a disgusted grimace at the brunette, revealing his vampirish teeth "My, that's a rather rude greeting from a lady like yourself," he stood up and began to walk. Just as it seemed that he would step off of his chair and fall, the mirrors began to shift and form stairs for him, one after each step "But no matter," he continued calmly, his grin returning "I promised you an introduction and that's just what you'll get."

He finally stepped onto the ground "Nepenthes Ampullaria is what they call me," he said, taking off his hat and giving a bow "But I prefer Nepenthes alone."

"That still doesn't explain what you are doing here and why you trapped us," said Calypso "These planets are supposed to be void of any life."

"Yeah, so what are you doing here and...and what are you?" Bianca blurted out.

It truly was a daunting question: Just  _what_  was the being before them?

Nepenthes calmly waved the comments away "Ladies, ladies, there's no need to be brash," he said "All of these questions will be answered and more. I was simply roaming around this planet in search of a nice snack. Sure, it's a little lonely here and rather dusty, but that didn't stop Fleurs like yourselves from wandering here, now did it?"

Calypso squinted, dissatisfied by the answer to her question.

Seeing this Nepenthes added "Now as for the trap, well..." he chuckled "I was hoping to catch a hopeless Weed or Bug of some sort. But instead, I caught you. That sure says a lot about you four, now doesn't it?"

Behind Calypso's intimidating gaze was a hint of embarrassment. This seemed to satisfy the man further "You can't exactly blame me for stumbling right into a trap, can you?" he asked.

He then leaned into the Bianca, who frowned with an irritated grunt "And who am I, you ask? Just a gentleman with a pallet for the occasional Fleur..."

Bianca flinched and backed away when Nepenthes licked his lips dangerously close to her face. This earned a hearty laugh from him.

"And what a fine selection that walked in today," he suddenly appeared behind Aurora within a flash "A tender Delphinium…" the Fleur in question gasped when she suddenly felt the man's fingertips graze her arm. Before she could turn around to face him, though, he had already reappeared behind Bianca "A spicy Iris…" again, before Bianca could react, the man was already gone, leaving her to punch the air. "And a succulent Alstroemeria…" Calypso only glared at the dead air.

"But what's this?" unlike the others, Nepenthes appeared right in front of Phoenix. Instead of ghosting his fingers over the young man in a lecherous manner like he had done to the others, he simply stood before him, studying the ink-haired male "A  _male_  Fleur?"

Phoenix jolted and took a step back as the man seemed to sniff him "That's definitely Magnolia I smell..." a grin then spread across his lips "Impossible! Could it be?" he said "Nari Magnolia?"

Phoenix gasped at the mention of his mother's name as Nepenthes laughed "What do you know about her?" he asked, his voice hard. He couldn't stand the idea of some horrid man doing anything to his mother.

The laughing man said "She's the Fleur that captured me all those years ago! I never thought I'd see her again, especially in this form," he poked Phoenix's stomach for emphasis "I always asked her "When are you going to let me eat those children of yours?". She would always get  _so_  upset." He then turned back to look at Aurora, Bianca, and Calypso, all with expressions of shock and disbelief "Looks like those tasty bites blossomed into these delicious treats."

"I knew I recognized you..." Aurora, who had remained silent the entire time, gritted teeth "After all these years, you're still harassing Fleurs, huh?"

Bianca and Calypso looked at her in confusion.

Nepenthes chuckled "My dear Delphinium, please. I've been alive for nearly sixty thousand years," he said "Don't think in the twenty-something Fleur years you've been alive, I'm going to change my ways."

"You're all talk, anyway," continued Aurora "You may be able to pull off that smoke and mirrors crap, but you wouldn't stand a chance in a real fight."

Nepenthes sighed "Alas, you are right," he then began to take a seat in a random spot in the air, the mirrors shifting a forming an old-styled rocking chair beneath him just in time "My powers are solely illusionary. A battle of sanity I could win. A battle of brute, I cannot."

"Exactly," said Aurora "Come on, girls. We don't have time to waste on this piece of trash. We've still got a monster to find."

"Oh? You couldn't tell?" questioned Nepenthes "That monster you found fell into my trap."

Aurora, who had started to turn around, stopped "What?"

The man smiled "Are you hard of hearing, my dear?" he asked "That worthless weed was my next meal." He then snapped his fingers, making a large, two prickled leaves appear at his sides and start fanning himself "Such an ugly thing it was, but still rather filling."

"Dammit!" Aurora groaned, slapping her forehead "We went through all of that for nothing."

Calypso and Bianca still appeared bemused by the man's supposed history with Nari and Aurora, but were still hit with slight disappointment at that statement.

"Well then, I guess we go home...?" Calypso unsurely concluded.

"You lovelies wouldn't mind bringing me along with you, would you?" asked Nepenthes "It's been so long since I've been to Earth."

Aurora threw a "Go screw yourself," at the man as she approached Phoenix "C'mon Phoenix. We're outta here," she said as she guided him and the other two Fleurs back the way they came.

The young man silently allowed himself to be led away, too many questions swirling in his head to get a single one out. All the while, Nepenthes further tried to encourage the Fleurs to take him with them.

"Oh now don't be like that! I got rid of the monster. Isn't that what you wanted? You should be grateful for my help!"

Eventually, the man's obnoxious pleads quieted down into nothing. Phoenix wasn't even sure if the man genuinely wanted to be brought to Earth or if he was just further teasing them.

* * *

"... _I was extremely paranoid about Nepenthes following us home, despite Aurora reassuring me that only we could use the Telepad. Like always, I had a list of things I wanted to question the Fleurs about, but before I could even open my mouth, the conversation they dove into once we got home held all of the answers I was looking for_ …"

* * *

"Aurora, how did you know who that man was?" asked Calypso, taking a seat on the couch.

The woman sighed as she sat down "You guys may have been too young to remember him, especially you, Calypso, since you're the youngest, but Nari used to come across this guy named Nepenthes when she went on missions. He wasn't exactly dangerous, per se, but she always talked about how annoying he was."

"Oh, I think I remember," said Bianca, who had sprawled herself out on the love seat "Was he the guy Nari always told us not to talk to if he came by?"

Aurora nodded "Yeah. It turns out that he's a cannibal."

The other three young adults in the room looked up in shock, Phoenix's expression the most fearful.

"What?!" he nearly exclaimed.

"Not in the way you think, Phoenix," explained Aurora "Whatever Nepenthes is, part of him is still a Fleur. So he eats the flesh of other Fleurs and occasionally Weed monsters."

Phoenix noticed Calypso swallow hard, her lip quivering as if she were resisting the urge to vomit.

"So he was serious about eating us?" asked Bianca, her voice shaky "He wasn't just some pervert?"

"Exactly," said Aurora "But don't worry. Like I said, he can't actually attack people. Nari said the only time he was actually able to eat a Fleur was when she got tricked by his illusions."

Phoenix leaned forward "He didn't actually eat her, did he?"

"No," said Aurora "That's when Nari came in and captured him."

Everyone in the room seemed to relax at that statement.

Aurora then sighed "Phoenix, I'm sorry Nepenthes had to ruin this for you," she said "I know you wanted this mission to go well and all."

To her surprise, the ink-haired man chuckled "Heh, don't worry Aurora. Even though we didn't kill the monster, ourselves, I think this mission was a success," he said "I mean, the monster was killed in the end."

Bianca chimed in "Yeah, and without you having that bat, we would've been screwed."

Phoenix modestly rubbed the back of his neck "Oh, I didn't even think about that," he said as a bashful grin stretched across his cheeks.

"Good job, Phoenix," said Calypso, who seemingly got over her nausea from moments ago "You did just as great as I thought you would."

* * *

Once again, the cat scurried away at the continuous sounds of his owner tossing and turning in bed. This time, the feline was even more irritated as he descended the stairs.

In bed, Phoenix was trying to relax with some calming music from his iPod, but even the smooth rhythms of the piano keystrokes couldn't placate his nerves.

It was late in the night. The Fleur Girls and his father had long since retreated into their rooms to end the day, but here Phoenix still lies, his head buzzing with energy. Even though the day ended on a positive note, he still couldn't help the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

He picked up his Clove to look at the time. 2:07 A.M.

Phoenix sighed through his nose, but then noticed a message.

 **Harper:**   _hey are you up? turn on the tv. they're playing Capricorn on channel 324!_

Phoenix smiled. He had always wanted to see that movie, but never got to see it due to how long ago it aired. Harper knew how often Phoenix struggled to try to find the DVD or subtitled version on the internet.

* * *

"... _Harper always knew how to pull me back down when I get too high up. He reminded me of the wonderful life that I always had. But Harper wasn't just important to me in these later years. He was always important to me and always will be_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To get a better idea on what Nepenthes Ampullaria looks like, search "Raito from Diabolik Lovers". Even though his physical appearance looks like him, I based him off of Discord from "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" and Bill Cipher from "Gravity Falls". I think that alone will explain his behavior here. That and the fact that the Nepenthes Ampullaria is a cannibal plant.


	4. The Trilogy

Phoenix sighed as he fell back against the couch "Why can't I summon my weapon?" he moaned in tired frustration.

Bianca, who had been lying on the love seat adjacent to him reading a magazine, said "I dunno. It's really easy."

This only weighed more on Phoenix's disappointment. If it was so simple, why couldn't he do it?

The young man then sat up "What was Nari's, uh, _Mom's_ weapon?"

Bianca casually shrugged "I dunno," she echoed.

Phoenix frowned "What? But you guys said that she went on missions."

The brunette's copper eyes still roamed the magazine page casually as she spoke "Yeah, but that doesn't mean she took us with her. The oldest we were when she was around was in our teens," said Bianca "Even if she did let us see her weapon, it's hard to remember what happened before we got trapped in those rings."

The man crossed his arms, dissatisfied with Bianca's dismissive attitude "Y'know, you said you'd be more honest with me."

Flipping the page, Bianca said "Yeah, but you never asked any questions."

"You guys are always too busy to answer them," Phoenix briefly looked around the room "Like right now, where are Aurora and Calypso?"

"On a mission," said Bianca.

Phoenix perked an eyebrow "And you're not with them?"

"Not every mission needs the three of us to take care of it," said Bianca, still taking more interest in the flashy pictures of the magazine before her than him.

Phoenix rested his cheek in his palm, allowing a moment of silence to pass by. He wondered if he should stand up and try to summon his weapon again and risk a snarky joke from the orange Fleur beside him or give it a rest.

"So Bianca, how did you guys know my mom?" Phoenix asked "I mean, what was the relationship?"

For the first time, Bianca looked up "In a way, she was our godmother," her voice lacking her usual spark, "First of all, she met  _your_  dad when she worked with him on an old talk show called-"

"The Gift of Gab," the word flew from Phoenix's lips before he could catch it. Now he and Bianca were staring at one another wide-eyed.

"Yeah…" the brunette said, much to Phoenix's surprise "How did you know?"

"I saw a t-shirt for it in Mom's room," answered Phoenix.

"Oh, so your dad wasn't the one who told you?" Bianca asked.

Phoenix shrugged "Sorta. He doesn't really talk about his past," he said, taking a brief glance at the empty guest bedroom where Terry usually resided "It bothers him."

Before the brunette could open her mouth, her gaze went downcast "Oh…" she said "That probably means he's never told you about Nari, right?"

Phoenix shook his head "He told me that she died during childbirth, and that was it."

Bianca looked back up at him to gauge his emotion. Sure, she teased him often, but she didn't want to make him upset, especially over such a delicate topic "Well, let me at least tell you what things were like before you were born," she said, her tone picking up more optimism "At first, Nari used to take care of the girls and I all on her own."

"All on her own?" Phoenix quoted "What about your parents?"

Much to Phoenix's concern, a look of sadness had crossed Bianca's features "Uh…they died," she pursed her lips "We're all orphans."

Phoenix looked at Bianca with a look of minute horror. Parental deaths weren't uncommon, but that didn't make the pill any easier to swallow. Phoenix felt a deep sense of sorrow for the women "So… What happened next?" he asked, his voice rather absent.

As if snapped out of a trance, Bianca perked up "Uh, nothing that eventful," she said "Nari went on the occasional mission, came back home and took care of us. And then after a few years, well, your dad showed up and Nari got pregnant with you."

"Wait so—" Phoenix halted his speech, noticing an even stranger detail in Bianca's claim "Bianca, I'm twenty-four years old. You're  _younger_  than me," he said "When did this all happen?"

Bianca snickered "No one ever said I was younger than you!"

"Yes you did. You said you were twenty-three years old."

"In Fleur years."

Phoenix opened his mouth to protest, but paused. He recalled what Nepenthes stated two weeks ago: " _Don't think in the twenty-something Fleur years you've been alive, I'm going to change my ways_."

"How old are you  _really_?" the ink-haired man chose to ask.

Phoenix was nearly floored when the brunette began to tap her chin in thought. He wondered if she was toying with him again. He couldn't fathom Fleurs' aging process being that complex.

"You got a calculator?" Bianca finally asked, extending her arm.

Phoenix reached out to the coffee table to hand the orange Fleur his Clover tablet. He watched anxiously as Bianca typed numbers into the calculator app, wishing he knew what kind of math she was doing.

Bianca looked increasingly frustrated and anxious as she worked the device. Finally, with a stubborn frown and a tilt of the head, she said "I'm not sure I did the math right, but I think I'm, like, forty-eight in your human years."

"You're almost Dad's age!" Phoenix jumped from the couch, the question coming out more as a flabbergasted accusation.

"Hey, that's in human years," argued Bianca "I'm a Fleur. So I'm still twenty-three."

Phoenix ran a pale hand through his hair, absolutely stunned "Does that mean I'm going to age like that?" he was asking himself more than anyone else.

Regardless, Bianca shrugged with a casual "I dunno. You're half-human so it's pretty much the flip of the coin," before returning back to her relaxed pose to read more of her magazine "If you're twenty-four and you look like this now, I wouldn't be worried."

Phoenix shook his head. He couldn't imagine being his father's age yet still having the same youthful body for all those years. He still couldn't believe the young woman beside him was in the same age group as his father.

Suddenly, the friendly jingle of the Telepad pulled the ink-haired man out of his thoughts. When he looked over his shoulder, he caught sight of Aurora walking into the room with an object in her hand. It looked like a green marble, but it was the size of a baseball, Phoenix noted. It was suspended in a midnight blue bubble that somehow, Phoenix naturally knew belonged to Aurora.

"Ugh, you should've seen this Weed monster," said the slender Fleur as she approached the two "Calypso looked like she was going to get sick every time she got close to it."

Phoenix tried hard to imagine the woman with such an expression. It was very difficult for him to do so.

"Ah man, you should've taken me with you!" disappointedly said Bianca, as if seeing the pink Fleur in such a state was entertaining.

Aurora snorted "Tch, don't get too excited," she then handed Bianca the green object "Now take this Bad Seed to the temple."

The brunette obliged and left the house.

Aurora's attention the went to Phoenix "Hey Phoenix," she casually greeted as she took a seat in Bianca's love seat.

The ink-haired man was now strangely aware that he was alone with the blue Fleur "Hi Aurora," he greeted with less confidence.

"How's that weapon coming along?" she asked, curiously picking up Bianca's left behind magazine.

Phoenix sighed "Not so well," he said "I wanted to practice when Dad was out of the house, but that doesn't give me much time since he's almost always here."

Aurora lowered the magazine and spared the ink-haired man a perplexed glance "No he isn't," she said "I've never seen him around."

Phoenix sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck "Actually, he's here whenever your guys are out on missions," he said "He's still a little antsy around you guys and "Fleur Magic", as he calls it."

Aurora gave Phoenix a sympathetic look "Well, at least he's trying to adjust. We'll give him some wiggle room."

"Thanks," said Phoenix.

Aurora returned to reading her magazine and a comfortable silence settled upon them. Phoenix wanted to speak up. He didn't like the lack on conversation and certainly wasn't going to just leave to do something more entertaining.

"Aurora, would you mind if I asked...how old you are?"

The blue Fleur blinked at the sudden question, but answered "Uh, twenty-two in Fleur years."

"So you're forty-seven in human years?" the question came out more apprehensive than Phoenix planned. Aurora's confused frown didn't help that either.

"I'm ninety-five in human years," Aurora's earth brown eyes flitted downwards for a moment, before returning back to Phoenix "Wait, did Bianca try to tell you her age?"

Phoenix's eyes widened "How did you know?"

Aurora nodded at the abandoned Clover tablet on the coffee table "It looks like she's been doing some math," she said "Even after almost a century, she still has trouble using some of Earth's technology."

"But didn't you spend most of your life on Earth?" asked Phoenix.

"Well, we were  _born_  on Earth. Aside from these missions, this is the only planet we've ever been to," said Aurora "We've never seen Botanica, but Nari made sure to raise us in a Fleur lifestyle, or, at least, the best she could do on Earth."

"What do you mean "Botanica"? You guys said Fleurs originated on Earth."

Aurora's jaw dropped, the innocence in her eyes practically spelling out "Oops."

"I can't believe we forgot to tell you," she said, seeming embarrassed by the mistake "You're right, Phoenix, Fleurs did originate on Earth, but we eventually moved to another planet when humans started coming along."

"That long ago?" questioned Phoenix "Why?"

"I…don't really know the history too well. It was probably for the sake of, like, territory expansion and space exploration. Something like that," said Aurora "So Nari told us stories about her childhood living on Botanica. She talked so much about the neighborhoods and communities, the celebrations and their cultural customs," as Aurora explained, a grin crossed her features, seeming to be put at ease rather than holding a hint of unease like Phoenix had seen in Bianca not too long ago "We stayed in the temple and didn't really get to leave-."

Phoenix perked up "Wait, did you say the "temple", as in," he jerked his thumb to his left "The one outside?"

"Yeah, of course," Aurora chuckled "I don't see any other temples around here."

"Is that why you were mailed there instead of my house?" questioned Phoenix.

"I don't know what was happening while I was in that ring, Phoenix."

"Oh…" said Phoenix. He was satisfied that he was starting to get a better understanding on the history that occurred between the Fleurs and his mother "So, if you, Calypso and Bianca are older than me, where were you three when I was born?"

Aurora glanced again at the magazine, as if trying to dodge the question "We got trapped inside of the rings before you were born," she said "We never got to see you until now."

Phoenix gasped "You were trapped for over twenty-four years?!"

Aurora nodded, still looking at the magazine.

The ink-haired man looked over at the blue Fleur pensively "Aurora, how did you all get trapped in-"

"I already said I don't know."

The bitterness in the slender Fleur's tone ran a shiver down Phoenix's spine. The fact that she never even lifted her head to look up at him when she spoke made it even stranger.

Phoenix faced forward and acted as though the heated response had never happened. He waited in silence until Bianca came back.

"Aurora, I had to put that Bad Seed away on the top shelf," the brunette spoke as she walked into the living room "Hope you don't mind."

Putting down the magazine, Aurora said "That's okay, Bianca. I had a feeling the bubble wouldn't be able to hold it up too well."

Phoenix was almost taken aback by how warm and kind the blue Fleur's voice was now compared to the sharp edge it held just moments ago. As he looked at the two Fleurs in wonder, Calypso appeared on the Telepad and walked into the living room with everyone else.

"Oh, hi there, Calypso," greeted Aurora "Where were you?"

"After you left, I ran into another monster," explained Calypso "I was able to stun it for a while, but I get the feeling it might come back."

Aurora practically pounced on the opening "We'll take care of it. You've done enough for today."

"We?" snorted Bianca, throwing Aurora a dirty side-glare.

"Oh, don't pretend you don't like the opportunity to kick some ass," Aurora said, hooking her arm around Bianca's.

As the brunette allowed herself to be led to the Telepad, she said "I can't argue with you on that one."

For the third time that day, two Fleurs departed on the Telepad while another sat in the love seat adjacent to Phoenix. Also for the third time that day, Phoenix became very much aware of the solitude he and the lone Fleur had.

"How are you today, Phoenix?" Calypso asked, the proper way she crossed her legs and held her palms in her lap punctuating her speech.

Phoenix shrugged with a friendly grin "Fine, I guess."

"What's the matter?"

The ink-haired man went rigid. He knew he didn't respond in a somber tone, yet the pink Fleur knew that something was wrong with him " _How does she know this stuff?_ " he thought.

"I still can't summon my weapon," he admitted, choosing not to dwell so much on the mysterious Fleur's ways.

Calypso nodded understandingly "I wish I could tell you what Nari's weapon was," she said "But after so many years trapped in those rings, I can't recall."

Phoenix's gaze returned to the coffee table "That's okay. Bianca said the same thing," he said "She said Mom never took you guys on missions with her, so you've never seen her weapon."

"She's shown us her weapon."

Phoenix's head snapped up. He had been avoiding making direct eye contact with Calypso, but the strangely confused tone in the pink Fleur's voice forced him to look at her.

"I can't remember what it was because it was so long ago, but Nari showed us once," continued Calypso, her voice returning back to its unbiased tone "She never wanted us to be involved in combat. Also, we were too young."

"Oh…" again, there was a strange moment of silence before Phoenix spoke again. These moments were especially awkward with how quiet Calypso was compared to her other comrades "Calypso, you said that you were sent here to protect me," he said "But how could you have known that when you were trapped in those rings?"

"Well, of course nobody could have told us. Once we were locked away in those rings, we didn't have any idea as to what would become of us," said the pink Fleur, her attention drifting towards the discarded magazine "But I just assumed that since we were sent to you, we were meant to be your guardians. After all, you're Nari's son. She took care of us and now I think it's our turn to return the favor."

Phoenix felt the air practically being sucked out of his body from Calypso's words. Everything the Fleurs had told him were solely factual, especially from Calypso, but now she was speaking to him from her heart. She told him what she felt, not what she knew was true. All the man could muster was a "Really?"

Calypso gave a single nod and a "Yes." The petite Fleur then looked up from the magazine and gave Phoenix a brief analytical look "You know, Phoenix, I've told you that we'd be glad to tell you as much about ourselves as you wanted, but I haven't really heard any questions from you."

Phoenix suppressed a sigh. He felt it would be a little disrespectful to give Calypso the same answer he had given Bianca "Well, my mind's been pretty preoccupied by these missions," he subconsciously began to rub his sore shoulders "The past few weeks trying to fight those monsters with just a bat has really worn me out. I just want to learn how to summon my weapon so it can be all over."

Calypso gave a minute sympathetic smile "I understand," she said.

Phoenix rubbed his thumbs over one another in thought. He wanted to live up to Calypso's offer and ask her questions, but to his surprise, none came to mind. He knew about his mother. He knew about the Fleurs' past and their objective. At this point, he could basically say that he knew everything that they did "So, did you run into Nepenthes today?" he ended up asking.

"No," said Calypso "Like Aurora said, he isn't anything to fret over. He's all show and is anything but a major threat."

"Sorta like your everyday creepy neighbor?"

For a brief moment, Calypso gave him a subtly confused expression, but after that moment, she nodded "Yes, in a sense."

It was then that Phoenix remembered how sheltered the Fleur Girls were growing up " _They probably don't even know what it's like to have neighbors_ ," he thought " _Especially if they lived in that temple._ "

"Calypso, do you think there are things Mom used to keep a secret from you and the others?" asked Phoenix. Part of him already knew the answer due to his recent conversations with Aurora and Bianca, but he felt compelled to get Calypso's answer as well.

"I  _know_  she kept secrets from us," the Asian Fleur bluntly stated "But I knew she was only doing that to keep us safe. And for that, all I could do was trust her."

A wave of guilt gripped Phoenix as he remembered his previous quarrel over the same topic. Even though Calypso's dark eyes had idly returned to the discarded magazine, Phoenix still made an effort to avoid eye contact and stare at his pale hands in his lap "I'm sorry," he said "I should have trusted you earlier."

"There's no need to be sorry, Phoenix," said Calypso, looking up from the magazine again "You had every right to feel the way you did," the pink Fleur then smiled "You know, Nari was smart, too. She wasn't one to blindly follow orders without a proper explanation."

A weak smile stretched across Phoenix's lips as rouge dusted over his pale cheeks "You really think I'm smart?" He wanted to chastise himself for the childish question the moment it slithered past his teeth, but it was too late.

"Of course I do," said Calypso "You've proven it."

In that moment, the Telepad was activated, lowering the volume of Calypso's last words. Phoenix, still gazing at the pink Fleur in gratitude, noticed her mature eyes glance over his shoulder and then pop with expression.

In response, Phoenix turned around, only to gasp.

Aurora and Bianca stood on the Telepad covered in what appeared to be a bluish substance with the consistency of cream.

Aurora, who was again holding what appeared to be another Bad Seed in her hands, wrinkled her nose in disgust "That's the last time I'm dealing with a blueberry slug."

"Hey, it's not a total loss," said Bianca as she took a long lick of the substance from her hand.

Aurora turned around to her partner and was immediately horrified "Bianca! Don't eat that crap!"

The shorter Fleur only cackled at Aurora's complaints as the front door opened.

"Hey Phoenix, I'm home!" called out Terry as he swung the door closed behind him in one swift motion "Man, you wouldn't believe all the-" The grin the father wore on his face drooped into a look of fear as he looked at the four youths in the living room "Uh, I missed some more Fleur stuff while I was gone, didn't I?"

"You could say that," said Aurora.

Bianca's eyes narrowed in mischief as she settled her gaze upon the father.

"What are you two covered in? Paint?"

Before Terry's question could be answered, the Latina moved quickly towards him in a flash of orange fire "Why don't you come and… _find out_?" she announced, her last two words coming out in an aggressive grunt after her short transportation.

The heavy set man cried out as Bianca's arms wrapped around him, coating his shirt in the blue substance.

"Ah! Bianca! What the hell?! Is this yogurt?! What are you doing?!"

The shaken man hardly noticed Aurora calmly walking up to him "C'mon, Mr. Hall. It's just a little bug juice." Her last words came out in a grunt as she clamped herself onto the two relatives.

At this point, Terry's questioning had given in to hearty laughter.

"You want in on this, too, Calypso?" questioned Bianca.

Although laughing, Calypso said "Thanks, but I'm fine," as she stood up "How about you, Phoenix?" she then said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I think I'll p-" The young man cried out when Aurora's arms trapped him.

"Too slow!" she said "You gotta answer quicker than that."

In his left ear, he heard Calypso's soft laughter. Looking over, he and Aurora could see Bianca had used the same tactic to trap the pink Fleur.

* * *

"... _Living in Mistford, Dad was the only one I could really call family. With the Fleurs Girls here, I wasn't so lonely anymore_ …"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone needs a breather and those first three chapters really packed a lot. So here’s a little filler to give new information and recap on what we already know.


	5. Mistford Mysteries

" _If I were to describe how that morning went in one word, I'd say: "Disastrous"_ …"

* * *

Bianca landed on her feet in a crouching position. Phoenix followed in a less than graceful manner, wincing in pain from the rough contact his body made with the road. Calypso skidded backwards on her feet, her shoes making an angry scraping noise against the black street.

"Make sure this Bug doesn't get near the people!" the pink Fleur barked at her two comrades.

Before them, a large creature resembling a slug cast a shadow over the three youths. Its gelatinous body was a vibrant hue of indigo and its nearly transparent skin shed layers of rouge slime wherever it made contact with a dry surface. It twitched and jerked lethargically as Aurora struck it with her spear, glimmers of stars darting across the air as it sliced the thick flesh of the beast.

Aurora would leap off of the creature's body whenever its guard was down to keep herself near its head. However, she slipped once when one of the slug's eye stalks struck her with a harsh force. She was thrown back much farther than her teammates and crashed into the side of a store with a spine-tingling crack.

"Aurora…!" Phoenix couldn't help but cry out helplessly.

Bianca and Calypso had also caught sight of the incident, but didn't linger too long. Whenever one of them went down, they had learned to never let that distract them from the enemy and risk worsening the situation. That was something they would have to teach Phoenix soon.

Calypso's threw an icy gaze at the slug "Bianca, pull him in," she demanded in a hard voice.

The brunette had grown accustomed to her teammates' vague orders and followed without question. She tossed her whip at the slug, the rope wrapping tightly around it numerous times before she gave a harsh yank. Once it was pulled forward, Calypso summoned her fans once again and cast a giant gust of wind to blow away the beast. The beast flew back into the forest where it had originally come from, the sheer force creating a powerful wind to bend the trees that lined The Mall's street.

Phoenix stared with wide eyes. This wasn't the first time he had seen the power of Calypso's fans, but it was the first time he has ever seen a mission turn out the way it did.

"G-Guys!" he squeaked, jumping to his feet "You didn't kill it. You just launched it back into the forest where we started!"

Taking away her fans with a single swipe, Calypso said "Which means it's away from the people."

"But it's still alive," Phoenix pressed "We didn't kill it or get the Bad Seed."

Casually crossing her arms behind her head, Bianca said "Hey, that's a problem for the future."

Phoenix couldn't help but groan as the two Fleurs walked past him without a care.

* * *

"... _When I came home from The Velvet Haven, the treehouse was infested by "Blueberry Slugs" (I'm still not quite sure if that's their technical name or a nickname the Fleur Girls coined in). Thankfully, they were pretty small. Rather than being the size of a school bus like the one we encountered in The Mall, they were about cat sized. That didn't lessen my surprise any more, though. By the time I got home, the Fleur Girls were in the middle of killing them all. Calypso mentioned that seeing so many "baby slugs" meant that there had to be a mother somewhere_ …"

* * *

Aurora groaned, holding her hand over her nose and mouth.

"Are you hurt?" asked Phoenix, his worry causing his voice to shake.

The blue Fleur leaned against the wall of a building where she had crashed. There was a slight indent in the wall where her back hit it, cracked stone chipping away and falling on her exposed shoulders. Phoenix was certainly glad that Aurora had survived, but he was sure she had sustained a major injury of some sort from the impact.

"No..." she said moaned.

"How's your Fleur Bud?" Calypso asked as she slightly lifted up Aurora's shirt to inspect the marking on her navel.

Aurora instinctively shooed away the intrusive hand "It's fine.  _I'm_  fine," she said, defensively "I've just got a bit of a nosebleed from when that eye stalk hit me."

Phoenix gasped when Aurora pulled away her hand. A scrawny line of blue trailed from her nose. However, blue flower petals seemed to stick to the line of moisture, as if hastily plastered there by someone.

"Eww…" Bianca murmured to herself.

Calypso, on the contrary, seemed to smile in relief "At least you were hit in the face and not your Fleur Bud."

Finally, after watching in utter disbelief, Phoenix choked out a response "H-How?" he sputtered "How are you not dead?!"

As Calypso guided Aurora up to her feet, Bianca openly laughed at the man's question "Dead?" she repeated "What makes you think she'd die from a little fall?"

The ink-haired man's jaw dropped open "A little fall?! She flew from all the way over  _there_  and hit a stone wall!" he exclaimed as he pointed towards the spot where the slug had last stood.

"Eh, I've been through worse," said Aurora, nonchalantly adjusting her ponytail

"And why is your blood like that?!" At this point, Phoenix's attention was being pulled by too many factors to focus on just one of his questions.

Aurora curiously dabbed her finger on her upper lip where the blood had fallen, moist flower petals sticking to her finger tip "Like what?"

"Don't humans bleed a different way?" Bianca asked the slender Fleur, casually pulling them into their own conversation.

Aurora's eyes widened like a deer in headlights "You act like I've seen a human's blood before!"

Having sat silently long enough, Calypso decided to speak up "A Fleur's body is much different from a human's, Phoenix," she explained "Our Fleur Buds are the center of our being, like a heart, which pump flower petals in our blood," she then nodded at Aurora's face "Of course not ordinary flower petals, as you can see. And half of a Fleur's body is plant matter."

Phoenix gulped at the new information as he digested it, wondering just what it was like to have flower petals coursing through his veins. His hand absentmindedly clutched his stomach, trying to imagine the organs inside as plant matter. He imagined that it would hurt, but quickly banished that thought with a voice of reason telling him " _If that were the case, you'd see Aurora and the others in constant pain._ "

Bianca whistled "You really did a number on this wall, Aurora," she commented, squatting down to look at the human-sized dent in the white concrete.

The curly-haired woman nervously rubbed the back of her neck in response "We'd better get out of here before someone tries to sue us," she muttered, already backing away from the scene.

Calypso, her mind on a completely different topic, said "We should retrace our steps to make sure no one got hurt in the fight."

Phoenix felt his throat tighten at the thought, forcing him to tug at his already loose collar "But we saw everyone run inside somewhere," he said, reassuring himself more than Calypso "And the slug was too slow to really do any damage out of our control."

"It still doesn't hurt to check," the pink Fleur insisted "Come on, girls-ah, everybody. It will only take a moment."

The others followed Calypso's instructions and split into separate directions.

* * *

"... _It was in that moment that I came to an epiphany: the people I care about could actually get hurt by this side of my lifestyle. It never occurred to me since the monsters had never appeared on Earth before, let alone Mistford. But as I was checking the streets and peeking into windows, I couldn't help but imagine what it would be like if those people got caught in that fight. What if they didn't escape in time? What if we didn't stop the monster in time? What if they didn't make it? I gave myself a headache with these worries and I had to dump them on Calypso when we all met up again. Her answer was simple, but reassuring_ …"

* * *

"Remember what I told you about trusting us, Phoenix," Calypso's tone reminded Phoenix vaguely of a mother. He had begun to notice Bianca and Aurora's voices reaching that point occasionally when they spoke to him. He couldn't quite place his feelings on these positions of roles "When we were sent to protect you, that included the people and the city you care about."

He and the Fleur Girls stood on the sidewalk. Much time had passed since that early afternoon when the slug had first attacked. The sun had settled into into a comfortable spot on the blue sky. People had come out of their shops and began to continue their daily lives.

Phoenix sighed through his nose, trying not to make the relief too evident on his face. He was already aware of the impression he had made on the Fleur Girls with his recent panicked and nervous behavior "Thank you, guys."

"Hey, no need to thank us," chimed in Aurora "It's our job."

"Yeah, buddy, all in a day's work," added Bianca with a casual flip of her orange bang. 

"But, that doesn't exactly mean this work is for free," hummed Calypso.

"Huh?"

The shorter woman flicked her eyes over at her shoulder "I'd say that a hard day's work deserves a little treat, wouldn't you say?" She then walked over to Phoenix and turned him around to lead him towards the building she had her eyes on.

Once the male Fleur got closer to the building, he caught sight of the bright neon sign above reading " _Sugar & Ice_". He instantly recognized it as the family ice cream parlor he had frequented whenever Harper wasn't working. He would love to visit once again, but after the recent incident, Phoenix would love nothing more than to go home and rest his sore muscles.

"We don't even know if they're open," he said.

"We took care of the blueberry slug over an hour ago and we already checked up on everyone," rationalized Calypso, motioning around the pedestrians casually roaming the streets "They're all fine."

"And I'm pretty sure that sign says "OPEN"," added Bianca as she pointed towards the parlor's window, which did, indeed, display an "OPEN" sign.

With a light poke to the side, Bianca said "C'mon Phoenix, Aurora didn't get smacked into a wall for nothing."

"Hey!" scolded the blue Fleur in question, her cheeks darkening in embarrassment.

Calypso's mesmerized gaze hardened with determination "I see they have green tea ice cream," she said.

Without further notice, she then strutted over to the parlor door to open it for the others "The choice is clear."

Bianca and Aurora exchanged a glance and laughed at the situation.

"That's Calypso for you," Aurora said as the remaining trio followed the shorter woman.

The ice cream parlor was nothing grand, but was definitely kind to the eyes. The small space contained eight blue circular tables, each holding four chairs. The white tiled floors reflected the lights from the flower-shaped ceiling lamps above. On one side of the pink walls was a vending machine with sweet beverages ranging from milk to fruit smoothies while the other held a case of various cakes and pastries. On the far side of the parlor was a glass counter stretching from one side of the parlor to the other, only being interrupted by a door in which employees entered through. Inside the counter was a large array of ice creams, each with dents from usage.

Behind the counter was a woman, whom Calypso was making small talk with. She was a young woman around the same age group as Phoenix. She had cocoa brown hair cut into a cute boy style with a red flower pin that matched her red T-shirt. She had a thick build like Bianca, but with much less curves. A pair of dimples blossomed on her cheeks as she smiled at the Fleurs before her. Halfway through speaking, the woman's friendly eyes caught a hold of Phoenix, causing her to stop "Oh, Phoenix! I didn't even see you at first," she then looked between Phoenix, Calypso and Aurora "Are these your sisters?"

"Uh-h, yeah, yup," answered Phoenix They're new to town."

The young woman smiled with a generous nod "Well it's nice to meet you three," she said "I hope Mistford is treating you well-" she then chuckled "Well, it's a little ironic to say that considering what just happened."

"Oh yeah," said Phoenix, feeling a bit more tired at the reminder "How's your dad doing? I didn't see him when I came in to check-" Immediately, the young man shut his mouth, not wanting to reveal any information about the Fleurs.

However, the girl didn't notice. Instead, she leaned on the counter with a sigh "Yeah, he left as soon as the attack was over to go check on that thing," she said "You know how he is about paranormal stuff."

"But you guys are okay?" pressed Phoenix.

"Of course, albeit a little spooked," said the girl "I'm used to the usual supernatural things that happen in Mistford, but a giant slug? Geez," she then glanced over at the Fleurs "That's something you girls will have to get used to, living in Mistford. You don't mind the occasional gnome or fae sighting, right?"

Calypso snickered "Oh trust me, we've seen worse."

* * *

"... _A lot of places around the world claim to have supernatural activity, or, at the very least, rumors about it. However, here in Mistford, it's not uncommon to pick up a newspaper and read about a late night pixie sighting. Usually, paranormal activity in movies is portrayed as murderous ghosts or demons with a vengeance. But Mistford is quick to tell you just the opposite. Whatever weird critters people claim to see running around here, they're not harmful. Hard to find, yes, but not harmful. As a result, people of Mistford are pretty unbiased about paranormal creatures and know how to handle the unpredictable. Sure, there are a few spectators (enough so that the law doesn't get involved), but it's pretty much common knowledge and a part of our culture_ …"

* * *

The four Fleurs sat at a table and dined on their ice cream as the girl from earlier busied herself organizing the back of the counter.

"I'd hate to be blunt, guys, but if you're going to be buying food, I'm not going to pay for it every time," said Phoenix, smiling around his spoon despite his sour statement.

"What? Do you expect us to get jobs?" questioned Bianca.

"Fighting Bugs and Weeds is a job on its own," said Aurora, stirring around her ice cream.

"I wouldn't mind a little extra work if it meant I got to eat this whenever I wanted to," said Calypso, her normally dark eyes twinkling subtly at the bowl of green tea ice cream before her.

The girl behind the counter chuckled " _I_  wouldn't mind a hand or two back here," she said, leaning over the counter "It gets a little lonely here. Besides, it'd be nice to have another girl to talk to instead of my dad."

"Is that what you say to the customers when I'm gone? I'm wounded, Sidney!"

Immediately, all five youths turned to look at the middle-aged man standing in the door. Although he had a youthful face and a skinny build, the specks of grey in his chocolate brown hair told another story. He wore a video game themed T-shirt underneath his ironically sober black petticoat and a pair of dark grey jeans on his skinny legs. In one hand was a large suitcase while the other was occupied by a digital camera.

The girl in question blushed madly and planted her face on the glass counter with a groan "Dad…"

Still surprised, Phoenix muttered "M-Mr. Patrick?"

The pleasantly grinning man looked at Phoenix and gave a friendly wave "Hey Phoenix," he greeted "I see you've brought a few friends with you, but no Harper? That's a shocker."

As he walked towards the counter, Phoenix explained "Uh, he's still at work. I just decided to bring my sisters."

"Well it's nice to meet you, ladies," said Mr. Patrick, opening the counter's door and stepping inside.

After a friendly exchange between the man and the Fleur Girls, Phoenix spoke up again, "Uh, Mr. Patrick, where were you just now?"

Sidney lifted her head up with fear in her eyes, as if to say " _Uh-oh_ …" without actually opening her mouth.

On the contrary, Mr. Patrick's eyes lit up "I'm glad you asked," he then lifted his suitcase and planted it on the counter "I don't know if you could tell since you live off in that forest, but recently, this mutant slug came through The Mall."

"We were here for that," said Aurora, licking some chocolate ice cream off of her lip "Phoenix was just asking if you guys were okay."

"Ha! Better than okay!" Mr. Patrick heartily laughed as he gave the suitcase a prideful pat "After it was safe to leave, I retraced the steps where I assumed the slug went and collected as much evidence as possible. Some mucus samples, pictures of the trail it left, some grass clippings it walked over..." he gave a satisfied sigh as if to ease his excitement.

Phoenix glanced over at the Fleur Girls to see their reaction. Much to his surprise, all three seemed to lack genuine interest. Bianca and Aurora paid attention for the sake of being polite. Calypso also attempted to pay attention out of courtesy, but she still seemed more entranced by the ice cream before her.

"So, uh, what do you plan on doing with the evidence exactly?" Phoenix asked.

"Ohh, you want to see it, don't you?" asked Mr. Patrick, flattery evident in his tone.

"Dad, no one wants to see grass clippings…"

Ignoring the brunette's statement, Mr. Patrick continued "But, I can't do that. All of my evidence is uploaded to my website."

"You have a website?" questioned Phoenix.

"But of course!" confirmed Mr. Patrick, almost in surprise "Haven't you heard of "Mistford Mysteries dot com"?"

The name seemed familiar to Phoenix, but he couldn't quite recall an exact image of the website. He sheepishly shook his head.

"Don't worry, Phoenix," chimed in Sidney, her arms crossed before her chest confidently "Nobody's heard of that website."

In response, Mr. Patrick gasped dramatically, his brows furrowed in offense as he stared at the girl. It was easy to tell by his daughter's lack of a reaction that she was quite used to his melodramatic behavior.

"Well missy, I'm sure you'd be pretty surprised by the amount of hits the site gets everyday," he said, puffing his chest out in pride ever so slightly.

Sidney rolled her eyes "Tch, yeah, probably from other sci-fi junkies," she snorted.

In equal sarcasm, Mr. Patrick stated "Well, it's a bit hard not to be a so-called "sci-fi junkie" when you live in the fantastic city of Mistford. In fact-" Just then, the proud father was cut off by the abrupt sound of the door swinging open in one swift motion, the bells singing clumsily in response. Everyone's breath was held as they took in the sight of the figure that stood at the door.

Striding up to the counter was a man, possibly in his thirties. Although he was not large nor muscular, his presence was still intimidating. His sandy brown hair was damp with sweat, which already made him look even more angry than he was. His jaw was set tight and his earth brown eyes stared over the sunglasses perched on his nose.

Even though he only allowed the five young adults a mere few seconds to take in how menacing he was, Mr. Patrick didn't seem to have the same reaction.

"Hello, sir, welcome t-"

"I saw you around my shop," the man interrupted in a sharp tone.

Mr. Patrick blinked, seemingly confused, and answered "Come again?"

"The thrift shop down the street. I just saw you there," insisted the man, his voice still accusatory but straining to contain his true temper "What were you doing around there?"

As the conversation went on, Sidney watched her father with a warning gaze, as if she were a doting mother watching as her child was being accused of misbehaving. Phoenix and the others tried to politely ignore the conversation, turning back around in their chairs so that they were facing one another again. When Phoenix couldn't keep his eyes to himself, Aurora would tap his shoulder to pull him back to the table.

"Oh!" Mr. Patrick said, his eyes popping in realization "That thrift shop? Yeah, I was just there collecting some mucus samples."

At this point, Sidney dropped her face in her hands, her cheeks outmatching her shirt in redness.

The man raised a curious brow "Mucus samples?" he repeated in slight disgust.

Mr. Patrick nodded, a grin still evident on his face "Yeah! From the mutant slug that passed by. Were you here when that happened?"

"No, but I keep hearing about it and-" the man shook his head as he stopped himself from rattling, muttering something about "damned mythical creatures" before he continued with the topic at hand "Were you the one who made the dent in my wall?"

Before anyone could even take a second to digest what the man had asked, Bianca teased "Ooh, Aurora…" with a lilt in her voice.

The woman in question flinched and angrily kneed the brunette underneath the table, only gaining a snicker in response.

But it was too late; the man's attention was already caught. His earth brown eyes roamed over to the table of young adults "You know who did it?" he drawled.

Immediately, Aurora started fumbling a defense "No, no, no, not at all! We weren't even around when it happened, I mean, we wouldn't have known-"

"It was an accident," Calypso cut in, smoothly patting Aurora's shoulder to silence her.

"Calypso-?" gulped the blue Fleur in a low voice.

To this, the Asian Fleur stated "We have to take responsibilities for our battles, even if we don't want to."

"Battles?" the man blurted out "What? You brats got into a street fight or somethin'?"

Bianca cocked a brow "Uh, no, we were fighting off that blueberry slug from earlier, and I don't exactly appreciate being called a brat, you bra-"

"Guys…!" Phoenix hissed, pushing his hands out in front of him. He stopped himself, though. The young man was about to say " _We can't tell people about this Fleur business_." The sentence was on the very tip of his tongue, but he caught it just before it slipped, realizing that it wouldn't make much sense to make such a claim in public where people could hear. So he stood there, biting his lip in mortified silence as everything spiraled out of his control.

In the same moment, the man asked "Wha'd'ya mean you were fighting that slug?" while Mr. Patrick nearly exclaimed "You fought the slug?!"

"Well, we didn't  _kill_  it," admitted Aurora, who noticed Mr. Patrick's look of despair brightened into a smile once she made that statement.

"What were you guys doing fighting a...a mutant slug?" questioned the man, his eyes squinting further and further with each word, as if he couldn't admit the question he was asking.

"Well you see, it's our job," simply stated Calypso "We're new to town, but you'll get to know us as the Fleur Girls. We're supposed to protect this world from monsters."

Phoenix's heart nearly stopped. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. He thought that he would have been able to put his faith in Calypso, who took natural leadership over the trio, to keep their Fleur identities from leaking. But she had just done the exact opposite. Phoenix had just watched Calypso look straight into a stranger's eye and tell him that she was a magical girl. With baited breath, he looked at the sandy-haired man, anticipating his reaction, watching for any signs of shock or fear.

The man snorted "Tch, well "flower girls" or not, I've lived in Mistford all my life and never have I seen a creature any more dangerous than an elf."

Bianca hissed sheepishly, looking off to the side "Yeah...that might be because we left our Telepad on…So some blueberry slugs crawled into the human world."

All at once, Sidney, Phoenix, the man and Mr. Patrick exclaimed "What?!"

"Hey, hey, we killed all the baby slugs," reassured Bianca, waving her hands defensively as if to ward off the offensively wide-eyed glares pointed her way.

"It's the mother we have to worry about," said Calypso.

Phoenix rested his face in his palm, wallowing in utter defeat "Which we should have killed."

"Hey, that thing is a problem for later," said Bianca, earning a bitter frown from the male Fleur.

Just as the brunette finished that statement, the sound of a car alarm blared from outside, accompanied by a large commotion. As everyone looked outside, the large windows displayed several civilians rushing to get indoors and off of the streets.

"I guess "later" would be now."

* * *

The three Fleurs dashed down the street, their weapons armed and ready. Phoenix proceeded to tag behind them with worry weighing his footsteps, partially because the hurried situation gave him no time to pick up a possible weapon to defend himself, and also partially because Mr. Patrick and the man had followed behind. In all of the haste, Phoenix couldn't even process whether or not it was appropriate to question why they had decided to follow. Although, the eager glint in Mr. Patrick's eyes as he held his camera close to his heart gave Phoenix enough evidence to infer.

"Wait!"

The length of Aurora's star spear stretched out before Phoenix's chest, stopping him before he could blindly run into the slug. They were only two yards away from the beast, whom Bianca and Calypso had already taken to torturing. Bianca would strike the slug with her whip, occasionally leaving painful charred black stripes across its body or wrapping it tight in the rope and pulling it down to the ground. However, it was Calypso's swipes from her fans that seemed to have the hardest effect on the slug, slime bleeding from its broken gelatinous flesh.

Phoenix looked up at Aurora, still panting from the run and adrenaline. The curly-haired Fleur asked "What do you have to defend yourself?"

Phoenix licked his lips and answered "Nothing, but-"

"Phoenix, it's too dangerous to try to fight unarmed," sighed Aurora, her dark brows furrowed in authority "Even if it's just that baseball bat, you need something to fight with."

"I lost my baseball bat this morning," said Phoenix "Don't you remember?"

Aurora raised a brow "Lost it? Where? How?"

Phoenix pointed at the slug and Aurora's gaze followed. It didn't take long for her brown eyes to catch sight of the wooden baseball bat lodged deep inside the slightly transparent body of the slug, bouncing and bobbing gently with the movement of the slug.

Aurora hissed "Dammit…" under her breath and pushed Phoenix behind with her spear "You'll have to sit this one out Phoenix. Stay at a safe distance," without another second, the Fleur leaped into action and joined her other two comrades in the assault, striking hard into the creature's body.

Following Aurora's orders, Phoenix began to take a few steps back before turning around fully and walk further away. However, he was halted by Mr. Patrick, who stood just as dangerously close to the fight as he and Aurora had just moments ago. The middle-aged man was too focused on capturing photos of the scene to noticed Phoenix's mortified face right before him.

"Mr. Patrick! We have to get out of here!"

As if the younger male hadn't spoken, Mr. Patrick beamed "Phoenix, you didn't tell me that your sisters were magical girls!"

At that, the pale man's eyes grew wide with fear. Of all the people to find out this secret, a supernatural-enthusiast such as Mr. Patrick was the last person he wanted to find out.

"No, no! That's not it! They're not-"

"And you fight alongside with them, too, no less? Does that make you a magical boy?" probed the brunette, his attention now more fixated on Phoenix than the slug "Do you have powers? Can you summon weapons like them? Can you jump as high as them?"

Anxiety itched at the back of Phoenix's neck. He felt himself slipping further and further into a problem he had intended to avoid. He searched hopelessly in his mind for a way to get himself out of trouble "Mr. Patrick, please, just listen," Phoenix said, putting his hands up defensively "I can explain…"

As if there wasn't enough weighing on the young male's shoulders, suddenly, the sandy-haired man from earlier stepped up after hearing enough of the conversation.

" _You're_ the reason this is happening?" the man accused, pointing an accusatory digit at Phoenix, who immediately took a step back.

"I-I…"

"You brought these chicks here to Mistford so they could bring all these monsters along with them?!" chided the man.

"Yes, I mean, not really, I mean, we just, we…" Phoenix continued to fumble as he stepped back. With each step he took back, the man took another one towards him. This continued for a while as Phoenix never felt that there was a comfortable amount of space between them.

The man snorted "You gotta be kiddin' me. All you paranormal freaks wanna do is find your mythological creatures. You don't give a damn about what effect it has on the people who live here," he huffed, adjusting his sunglasses as if they would fall off "Well I've got news for you people. You don't deserve to call this place home if you can't respect it!"

Suddenly, in the heat of the man's rant, Bianca dropped down between Phoenix and the man, looking straight into the man's wide eyes with her venomous gaze "Hey!" she barked "If anyone's a freak, it's you!"

Without Bianca tending to the slug, the beast now had more freedom to attack. Just as the tail began to whip around, Calypso sliced it with one fan, her intimidating gaze remaining on the man as if the slug was just a minor task "He has just as much right to live here as anyone else," she said "And we do care about the people here. That's why we're even saving your sorry ass right now."

Phoenix's jaw dropped in a silent gasp. He had never heard Calypso use any sort of foul language before or even show hints of being angry.

"And we're not going anywhere," Aurora punctuated her speech with a sharp cut to where the slug's throat would be, causing rouge slime to pour down its body in waves "We're Phoenix's family," she then leaped down and grabbed the baseball bat from a discarded pile of slime "And we'll be damned if we let some ungrateful bastard talk to him that way."

With one hand, Aurora tossed the bat over to Phoenix, who clumsily caught it in his hands. She then knelt down to another pile of slime and pulled out a Bad Seed. Upon dislodging it from the slime, the remnants of the slug disappeared into puffs of thick blue and pink smoke.

There was a silence. The Fleur Girls stared at the man with their own levels of dignity and intimidation. Phoenix observed the scene in awe. He had seen the females battle troublesome enemies with vigor, but never had he seen them show so much distaste for something, or someone. He felt the mood had shifted dramatically. The pressure he had recently felt was gone. He had been protected, saved.

"Huh," said Calypso, crossing her arms as she looked at the puffs of smoke "Had the slug entrails been there a minute longer, I would have told him that he'd end up like that if he ever talks that way to Phoenix again."

Aurora and Bianca exchanged a silent, mildly shocked glance for a moment before bursting into laughter. Calypso smiled and glanced over at Phoenix, whose pale cheeks immediately reddened as he glanced over at the other two males. Mr. Patrick looked fascinated and amazed by what he had just seen. The sandy-haired man looked absolutely paralyzed by fear.

* * *

"... _We spent the rest of the evening answering Mr. Patrick's questions (much to Sidney's dismay). We never knew what ever happened to the thrift shop owner. In all that craziness, we weren't even able to catch his name. But I suppose he could just be called a passing face among many. But I must admit, he's going to be hard for me to forget. He embodied exactly what I feared for myself if the Fleur Girls' identities were to leak out. Would people react like him? Would the people I loved start to hate me? I mean, I can't guarantee everyone will react the way Sidney and Mr. Patrick did (especially with Mr. Patrick's enthusiasm). They haven't known me as long as people like Harper. Yes, Mistford has had its run-ins with faes and elves, but what about Fleurs?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Steven Universe, Rebecca Sugar claimed that it’s set in a world/place where supernatural activity is pretty normal (like Gravity Falls, almost), hence why most people accept the Crystal Gems’ activity as the norm while others have...mixed reactions.


	6. Open Relationship

" _As an avid reader of shōjo manga, I've learned one very important rule: if one achieves magical powers, one must prevent pedestrians from knowing at all costs. Apparently, the Fleur Girls have never read "Fuchsia Magic: Juniper Wright" before_ …"

* * *

"How could you just tell a stranger that you're Fleurs?!"

Aurora subtly flinched from Phoenix's exclamation. The young man's raven hair was still disheveled from his slumber. After he rose from his bed, he immediately hurried downstairs to where the three females resided and presented this question to them. Aurora was barely even given the chance to exchange a greeting. Across from her, Bianca drank from a soda can, trying not to laugh at the little display. On the end of the kitchen island, Calypso read from a book without making the slightest reaction to Phoenix's presence.

"What?" Aurora simply asked.

"Yesterday," Phoenix started "When the thrift shop owner came into the ice cream parlor, you guys admitted to being Fleurs," he huffed "I can see this from Bianca, but you two?!"

Aurora awkwardly looked off to the side, unable to think of a reasonable answer "I still don't see why you're so fed up about this."

Phoenix's jaw dropped in disbelief "Are you serious?! You're not supposed to tell people about your powers!"

"Hey, bratty attitudes don't start until after noon," Bianca lightly scolded with a wave of her hand.

Phoenix glared at the orange Fleur "I'm not being bratty; I'm just trying to be responsible. I mean, you let your secret identities out!"

"Secret identities?" Aurora asked, squinting at Phoenix "What secret identities? Who said anything about that?"

"Exactly, no one did!" scoffed Bianca.

"No one should have to," retorted Phoenix "You're magical girls. You're not supposed to let civilians know about our lifestyle or else..."

"Or else what?" Calypso's voice broke through the debate, looking up from her book.

At that, the raven-haired man was left silent.

Calmly putting her book aside with her thumb on the page, Calypso said "Phoenix, you saw how easily that blueberry slug entered Mistford. There's no doubt dozens of people saw it."

Phoenix bit his lip at the words.

"There's also no doubt that that's not the last time a monster will slip into this galaxy," she continued "Who knows, maybe even Nepenthes will come here and give humans a friendly introduction."

"That's what I'm saying, Calypso," said Bianca "Where's the "secret" in this mess if anyone can see it at anytime?"

"That's another problem," said Phoenix, his fire relit "We need to get a better hold of these monsters so people don't see them."

At that, Aurora outright guffawed.

Both embarrassed and irritated, the male's face reddened "What?" he asked.

Aurora shook her head, a grin still on her cheeks as she stated "You are asking for the impossible, Phoenix," she then questioned "I mean, really? "Get a hold" of these monsters? We can hardly get an accurate reading on what planet they're on or  _where_  on that planet they're lurking."

Bianca then mumbled "If only someone didn't drop the tracker on the floor…"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Aurora spat in defense.

Phoenix sighed briefly and chided "Guys," in order to get the females back on topic "Whatever the situation is, it's no excuse for letting people know your identities."

"What is with you and this whole Fleur deal?" questioned Aurora "Why don't you want people to know?"

"Don't tell me you're still insecure about the whole Fleurs-Can't-Be-Dudes thing," murmured Bianca, a grin creeping on her face.

"No, it's not that. It's, it's…" Phoenix fumbled for words, trying to string together his logic to form a reason, but no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn't think of an answer. Why did they need to keep their powers a secret? Why did magical girls in manga keep their powers hidden?

Before he could get to the end of his logic chain, Calypso filled in the silence "It's just a fact," she stated "A fact people have to live with. Just like Mr. Hall being human is a fact, us being Fleurs is, too."

The pale man was dumbfounded, his earlier heat of irritation simmering into an uneasy chill "So, are...are you saying that people-"

"Should know about us? Most definitely," finished Calypso without skipping a beat.

Phoenix's crystal blue eyes widened in fear "But Cal-"

"People are going to have to face reality one way or another. Our Fleur identities fall under that category, too. If we're going to be protecting this world and living in this town, the people we're saving have the right to know what's going on."

Despite this reasoning, Phoenix still had a rebuttal "But think of how they'll react. What if they turn out to be like that guy from the thrift shop? What if people are scared of you guys and...and lash out?"

"I never said they had to approve of us," said Calypso "As long as they're aware of us, that's all that matters."

"Might as well start calling your friends to tell them the big news," said Bianca with a shrug.

"M-My friends?" Phoenix choked out.

"It only makes sense," reassured Aurora "I mean, your dad already knows. So why not just let the people who are close to you know what's going on?"

"But there's no rush," added Calypso "Tell them whenever  _you're_  ready. Take it easy."

Phoenix bit his lip to prevent himself from saying " _Easier said than done_."

* * *

Terry pulled the pencil from behind his ear, unintentionally taking a few strands of faded jet black hair out with it. He hadn't even noticed, concentration knitting his brows as he jotted down disorganized notes that only he could read. Even the chirping birds and scurrying squirrels couldn't pull him out of his thoughts. However, the ironically quiet steps of his son exiting the treehouse did.

"Hey Phoenix," Terry greeted, turning around and waving to the raven-haired youth.

Phoenix paused on the wooden staircase and returned the greeting "Good morning, Dad."

"So, what's on the agenda today?" the middle-aged man asked as Phoenix continued to walk down the stairs and around the front of the treehouse.

Taking a seat beside Terry on the patio bench, Phoenix said "I was thinking of stopping by Harper's cafe."

"Little Harper's got a cafe now?!" Terry questioned "Damn, it seems like just yesterday, you two were playing tag on the school ground."

Phoenix smiled slightly "Well, he's six feet even now, therefore not so "Little" anymore."

"Man, how many people can say they've kept a friend since kindergarten?" questioned Terry "You're one lucky guy, Phoenix."

After running that statement once again over in his mind, Phoenix was reminded of his previous conversation only moments ago. The smile faded from his features like a ghost.

Terry took immediate notice "Hey," he said "What's the matter?"

With a sad sigh, Phoenix breathed "The Fleur Girls say I should tell Harper and the others about...us."

Terry's features softened, mouthing a silent " _Oh_ …" as he gave his son a sympathetic look "Well, frankly, I agree with them."

"What?!" Phoenix's choked exclamation left a faint echo in the forest.

However, Terry was unfazed. He simply shrugged and nodded "Yeah, I mean, didn't you recently just have a battle in The Mall? I'm sure tons of people saw you before they went into hiding. What's the point in trying to keep something like that a secret?"

"But Dad-"

"Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" casually interrupted Terry, not sharing the youth's fear "I mean, Theodore would probably be really excited to hear about this."

"Who?"

"Mr. Patrick."

Phoenix scratched at the nape of his neck, chewing on his father's words "Yeah, but Mr. Patrick's a paranormal fanatic. No one else in Mistford is going to take it as well as him."

"Phoenix, have you seen this town? Bakeries having to hide their desserts from elves at night is a normal thing around here," snorted Terry.

"But the Fleur Girls aren't elves!" blurted out Phoenix "They're magical girl...flower-amazon-things!"

Now leaned against the back of the patio chair, Terry sighed "Listen kiddo, I don't exactly have full confidence that people will believe you about all of this. Hell, after the other day, I can't even deny that some people might even be scared, chalk up this whole thing as a terrorist attack or something."

As Terry suspected, Phoenix paled at these words, his thin brows knitting in worry "But hey," Terry continued "You owe it to your friends to tell them the truth. Especially Harper."

A somber look adorned Phoenix's features "It's that last part I'm the most afraid of."

* * *

Malaya and Harper stood beside the counter as the tall woman worked diligently on the cash register.

"So, uh, how long did you say this might take?" asked the rose-haired male. He had been told that the register only had a minor glitch that could be fixed in just minutes. However, the woman had been at the register for nearly an hour, forcing the man to keep his cafe closed.

With regret, the woman said "I'm afraid that it's much worse than I thought. Apparently, a hacker got into the register and tried to connect it to the overall bank account."

Malaya gasped as Harper choked out a hush "What…?!"

"Not to worry," the woman said, patting the side of the register "I was able to stop them from progressing. Your bank account's safe."

Both workers' figures slacked in relief upon hearing the news, Malaya giving the male a worried grin.

"However, I will have to replace it," the woman said.

Harper's eyes jumped a little "Ah, that's alright. We've been using an older model of the cash register when our other one broke," he said, pointing to the clunkier counterpart on the other side of the counter.

The woman gave the device a mildly disgusted look and said "This is from back in the 2010's. Back then, they didn't even connect their registers to the internet."

"We've been able to manage," kindly stated Harper.

The woman shook her head "This thing is obsolete and nearly a century old! You'll end up calling us again when this shuts down for good."

Harper tried to hide his disappointment, realizing that he didn't have a good enough argument to counteract the woman. Even he had to admit that she was right.

The woman smiled "Now I know you're worried about the price, but there isn't any need to be. Since you're already a customer of our services, replacement is free," she said "I must apologize, though. We've never experienced two registers breaking down like this at once."

Immediately, Harper's features softened "It's alright. It was just the hacker, I'm sure."

"I guarantee it won't happen again. We'll install an advanced version of our firewall in," she said with confidence "I warn you, though. This will definitely take a while, probably all day."

"That's okay," waved off Harper "Jacque back there can answer any questions you have."

A distant, but prominent voice from the back of the cafe called out "Wait, what?!"

Before Harper would have to answer, he had already begun leading Malaya towards the door while making his departing words "Thank you for your services!"

"No problem, darlings! Enjoy your day," replied the woman as the door closed.

Malaya and Harper were met with the bright rays of the spring sun beaming down on them. Immediately, the darker skinned woman shielded her eyes "Are you sure it was okay to leave Jacque back there?"

"Of course, they'll be fine," reassured Harper "I'm just disappointed that we had to close today, all over a register hack."

Malaya giggled softly "Try explaining that to Phoenix."

"Tch, I'm sure he can manage without his breakfast croissant and black coffee for one day," scoffed Harper. Taking a deep breath to refresh himself, Harper then asked "So, do have have any impromptu plans for this sudden off-day?"

Malaya tapped her chin in thought "Well, I might go to the pool considering the weather's so nice."

"Heh, I'd ask to join you, but I'm afraid I can't swim," Harper modestly admitted.

Malaya shrugged "I could teach you," she said.

Although the female hadn't noticed, Harper's eyes lit up instantly.

"Back in high school, I used to teach a swimming class," Malaya casually continued "I mean, they were elementary students, sure, but the same rules applied-"

Suddenly, the bronze-skinned woman's words were washed out by the blissful chime of Harper's Clove.

A hint of a frown brushed past the gentleman's face as he checked the notification "Sorry," he muttered quickly as he tapped the screen.

Malaya reassured the male it was nothing to apologize for as he read the message displayed on his screen.

 **Phoenix** :  _Harper, I need you to visit me by the old oak tree. It's very important. Another friend of mine is going to be there, too._

The rose-haired male had initially planned to brush off the message and return to the conversation, but after seeing the importance laced in his friend's words, he couldn't look away.

Noticing the expression on Harper's face, Malaya asked "Is everything okay?" before adding "I mean, it's none of my business. I don't mean to intrude or anything."

The tall male shook his head "It's Phoenix. He wants me to go see him for something. I'm not sure what, though."

"Oh," said Malaya, taking a steady step back from the male "Well, you go on ahead, then. We can start the swimming lesson another day."

It took a moment for Harper to realize what she was saying.

Malaya, already turning on her heel, said "I'll make sure to keep in contact with Jacque if there are any updates on the cash register. Tell Phoenix I said hi!"

"Wait, Malaya," Harper reached out, which seemed to be enough to stop the girl in her tracks. "Would you like to come along?" the rose-haired male inquired "I've been wanting to introduce you and Phoenix."

Malaya grinned, as if complimented "You have?" she asked "Well, I would love to meet him, sure!"

Joy nestled into Harper's chest at that remark. Sure, he wouldn't be able to spend the alone time he wanted with Malaya, but he would still be with her nonetheless.

* * *

Phoenix nervously paced back and forth in front of the oak tree. Faint traces of kicked up dirt and grass had already started surfacing on the soft ground. He had considered bringing the Fleur Girls along with him to help with the exposition, but he continuously hopped between whether that idea was a good one or a bad one. Bianca was a bit too blunt for Phoenix's liking. Calypso's ice cold unpredictability concerned him just as much. The only one who seemed level-headed enough was Aurora. However, the idea of being alone with Aurora until his friends got there made Phoenix's face heat up with redness. He wasn't sure if he could handle himself for that long.

The sound of hurriedly patting footsteps halted Phoenix from his pensive pacing. Looking up, he saw Sidney lightly jogging towards him, her apron still on.

An open-mouthed smile spread across her cheeks as she panted during her final steps "I just got off of first shift when I got your message," she said, leaning on her knees to catch her breath.

"You didn't have to run here," said Phoenix "There wasn't any rush."

Standing up straight to stretch, Sidney said "You said it was important, though."

Phoenix then understood where the mistranslation was "Oh, I didn't mean it like that. It's important, but not because of a time issue."

Raising a confused brow, Sidney asked "Then what's the issue?"

"Uhm…" as Phoenix searched for a proper explanation, the sound of another voice and two pairs of footsteps began to fill the silence left.

Turning around, Phoenix saw it was Harper. Despite hearing a second set of footsteps, however, the raven-haired man didn't expect to see Malaya at his side. A horrid mixture of irritation and disappointment rolled in Phoenix's gut as the two came closer.

" _I didn't tell Harper he could bring somebody_ ," the raven-haired man thought bitterly " _Especially someone I've hardly said two words to_."

"Hey, Phoenix," cheerily greeted Harper with a friendly wave "You've decided to bring us all together to have a friendly outing?"

Phoenix had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from rudely telling the rose-haired male that he knew exactly what the nature of this meeting was. Instead, he swallowed the remark and said "Actually, that's just what Sidney was asking. It's actually something very important," Phoenix looked up to gauge their reactions for when he said his next statement "I wanted to tell you all, in person, since you're my closest friends and you have a right to know." In that moment, he accidentally slipped a glance at Malaya, whose ironic presence made them both share an awkward moment of eye contact.

The sober atmosphere left Phoenix more room to talk. He was unsure of what to do with all the attention focused on him, but he knew he had to go through with it one way or another.

Swallowing thickly, the young man continued "Yesterday, do you remember the...the slug that went through The Mall?"

Sidney nervously chuckled "Yeah, I remember."

Malaya, on the other hand, lightly gasped "I saw it... I had never seen anything like it before," she said in mild discomfort "When I moved into Mistford, I had already heard the urban legends of elves and pixies, but, but that was…"

"Different," finished Harper.

Seeing the estranged look crossed over Harper's eyes, Phoenix felt his throat tighten a bit more. He didn't think it would be this difficult just beating around the bush "Well, there's more to that," he continued "You see, it has to do with my sisters…"

Harper frowned in confusion "Sisters? You told me they were just your housemates."

"Huh?" questioned Sidney "But Phoenix said they were his sisters."

As if the tension wasn't thick enough, now this extra heat started breathing down Phoenix's neck. He cursed himself for being unable to keep a consistent lie, now the three young adults were looking to him with more suspicion and less trust than before.

"A-Actually, Harper is right," admitted Phoenix "We're not related."

Hints of unease ghosted under Sidney and Harper's features. Phoenix hadn't even realized that he had begun to sweat until he reached up to his forehead "Ah...uhm...th-they're…"

* * *

"... _Living in a treehouse in such a modest forest is relatively peaceful. To get away from the hustle and bustle of suburban life is exactly what a guy like me is meant for. However, it's not so quiet all the time. Nature can be just as disruptive as a town_ …"

* * *

Without the slightest bit of a warning, a deer darted through the group of young adults. The close-knit trees and bushes prevented any of them from seeing the animal in advance. The moment the vibration of the deer's hooves hit the ground, all four leaped out of the way by instinct.

Sidney, groaning as she picked herself off of the ground she flung herself on, rasped "Was that...was that a deer?"

Wincing a bit in pain, Malaya look in the direction that the deer had gone "I think so. We might have scared it. This forest seems pretty-" her words were interrupted by a short gasp catching in her throat.

Sidney turned around, her eyes widening as she caught sight of what the other female gawked at.

Leaning against the big oak tree was a large, transparent golden orb. Inside, Phoenix rested on top of Harper, as though he had jumped on him to push him out of the way. It didn't take long for the males to come to, both reacting in the same amount of shock as the women. Inside, Harper and Phoenix stared wide-eyed at the orb enclosing them, Phoenix having the most fear in his eyes.

Harper stood up in the orb and pressed his hands against it. Solid. He tried to push harder, but it didn't give. The rose-haired male began to pound his fists at it once reality hit him that he was trapped.

Phoenix began to copy his motions, panicking just as much "No, no, no, come on…!"

On the outside, Sidney and Malaya tried to find a weak spot to free the two men.

"What is this?!" questioned Sidney.

With one last pound, Harper said "I have no idea..." still struggling to accept the reality.

"What do we do?" squeaked Malaya, her brown eyes wide with fear and confusion.

Sidney paused her actions and looked to the other woman "My dad," she said "He probably has something that could fix this."

"He does?" Malaya questioned, incredulously.

Sidney hurried to the bronze girl's side "I'll explain on the way," she told her before gripping her hand and guiding them out of the forest.

Harper's figure deflated as he watched the two women disappear from sight "Well...I guess we play the waiting game." He looked over his shoulder and noticed Phoenix hadn't said a word. Instead, he leaned miserably against the side of the orb. Curious, Harper kneeled down to his level "Hey, I know this is weird, but it's just an orb. No one got hurt."

Phoenix turned around to face Harper, but he didn't reply. He couldn't find the courage to. Instead, he simply sighed and lied down against the side of the orb in an attempt to get comfortable.

As a result, Harper was unable to speak either. The two sat in silence for a long amount of time, listening to the sounds of nature passing by with time.

An hour had passed when Harper finally spoke up again "What is taking those two so long?"

There was no reply to his question. That was the rose-haired male's last attempt at getting his friend to speak up.

* * *

"You didn't have to bring her along."

The sudden sound of Phoenix's voice made Harper jump to alert. He looked at the man and asked "What?"

"Malaya," clarified Phoenix, idly toying with his shirt tail "I never asked you to bring her along."

Feeling insulted by the bluntness of the pale man's words, Harper said "Well I figured that if you could bring Samantha, or whatever her name was, it wouldn't hurt to bring Malaya."

"Her name is Sidney and she's my friend," snapped Phoenix "I barely even know who Malaya is."

"Maybe you would if you gave her a chance," snarked Harper, his tone never breaking from its common demeanor "That's why I brought her."

At this, Phoenix outright frowned "You brought her so you had a better chance of dating her."

Harper was a bit taken back by this remark, but said "That's not true."

"And I told you that this was important," Phoenix continued as if Harper had never spoken "But no, you were too selfish to leave her behind."

Harper's green eyes slanted in anger "Selfish?" he repeated in a heated tone "Is that what you really think of me?"

"Yes, Harper, I do!" scolded Phoenix "Here I am asking for support and you try to use this as a crutch to get a girlfriend. You have absolutely no idea what I've been going through lately, Harper! None!"

"If you just told me, this wouldn't be a problem!"

"Don't you think that's what I brought you out here for?!"

Silence once again.

* * *

More hours had passed and Harper's body had begun to wear from fatigue. He lied face down on the bottom of the orb in an attempt to sneak in a nap. However, before he could slip into a state of slumber, the sound of heavy breathing from the other side of the orb started to reach his ears. Once the male lifted his head, he noticed Phoenix resting his head in his knees, his figure trembling.

"Phoenix...Phoenix…!" Harper carefully crept over to the other man's side "Phoenix, take slow breaths. Try to calm down."

"We're never getting out of here…" the trembling man rasped "Malaya...Malaya and Sidney gave up on us…"

"No, they didn't. It's just taking longer than we thought," said Harper "They're doing their best. I know."

Phoenix dug his fingernails into his raven-black hair "I knew…" he whimpered "I knew this wouldn't go smoothly. Why did I even trick myself into thinking this would all work out without a hitch?"

"This isn't your fault, Phoenix," said Harper "Whatever this orb is, it has nothing to do with you-"

"Yes it does!" exclaimed Phoenix "It's all my fault! It's all because I'm a Fleur!"

"Phoenix, please, don't try to talk. Just breathe," said Harper, kneeling in front of the man.

Abruptly, Phoenix lifted his head and undid the buttons on his shirt "See this?" he looked at Harper with tears streaming from his crystal blue eyes "This is what I am; a Fleur. I'm the reason this orb is even here. I know it."

Harper gazed at the lightly shimmering Fleur Bud tattooed on Phoenix's chest. He wanted to know what it was. He wanted to know what Phoenix was talking about, but...

"I'm so sorry, Harper," the pale man sobbed "I...I caused so much trouble for everyone...I said horrible things to you. I know you're afraid of me now because I'm this...I'm this  _thing_. I'm not who I used to be anymore..."

Before Phoenix could continue, Harper pulled the man into an earnest hug "Listen," he said, lowly "It doesn't matter to me what you are or what you become. I'll never be afraid of you. You're my best friend."

This was everything the pale man did not expect. He sat there, motionless in shock, as the rose-haired male rubbed comforting circles into his back. Every time Phoenix ran the words through his mind, he could feel his heart tighten with emotion. He wanted to speak out and give Harper the thanks he rightfully deserved, to apologize for the harsh accusations from earlier, but all that came out were quiet sobs.

Harper didn't have to hear his words. He already knew. He had already forgiven. The rose-haired male simply continued to calm the other man until the tears ceased.

When the last teardrop hit the bottom of the orb and the sobs dissolved into whimpers, both men were surprised to see the orb disperse into gold dust in the wind.

* * *

As the afternoon sun settled into the sky, Phoenix concluded his explanation of the Fleurs' existence. Harper sat beside him, listening intently and digesting the information with an occasional nod.

"I'm sorry I put you through all of this," said Phoenix "I don't really have any control over my powers yet," he then added the next statement with less confidence "And I'm sorry for the way I acted. You're not selfish, Harper. Not in the slightest."

The rose-haired male calmly said "It's okay, Phoenix. And besides, you were under a lot of pressure. If I were in your position, I honestly can't say that I would have handled it as well as you did," he then said in a more serious tone "I should apologize, too. You were right about my intentions with Malaya. It was really inconsiderate and I could have waited."

"It's alright, Harper," reassured Phoenix "She really does seem like a nice girl. I honestly would like to get to know her."

"Glad to hear it."

After a short pause in the conversation, Phoenix spoke up again "Hey, do you know why I wanted to meet here?"

Harper chuckled "Do you think I have amnesia? Of course I know why."

The two males looked up at the big oak tree that they leaned on. Carved into the old bark was a heart with " _PH x HB_ " carved inside.

"We were dumb kids," said Phoenix "To see a couple do that to a tree and decide to commemorate our friendship the same way really proves that."

"Your dad didn't even tell us what we did," laughed Harper "He just kept laughing at us."

"He still does," said Phoenix "He practically ships us like FedEx."

Harper covered his mouth to catch his loud laughter. Phoenix eventually joined in as well. The two were so caught up in their laughing fit, that they hardly heard the footsteps until the people responsible stood before them.

In Theodore's hands were what appeared to be a high-tech power drill connected to a battery. His face adorned protective goggles. Behind him, Sidney and Malaya struggled to keep up.

"Show me where it is, girls!" Theodore demanded "I can't see too well behind these goggles.

When the women caught up, they were surprised to find Harper and Phoenix freed from the orb.

"I-It's gone…!" stammered Sidney.

The father pulled off his goggles with a befuddled expression.

"What happened?" questioned Malaya, staring in equal confusion.

Harper snickered "Trust me," he said "You three are in for a long story..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuchsia Magic: Juniper Wright isn't a real manga. I had to make up one since this is set in the year 2110 and today's current mahou shoujo manga is probably unheard of to them.


	7. Bubblegum Vixen

" _There's no easy way to say it, so I'll just come out with it: I woke up to an explosion outside of my house_ …"

* * *

The raven-haired male darted his attention in different directions in a sporadic manner. The fast, sudden movements only succeeded in further clouding his fuzzy mind. Something had woken him up, but having no traces around left of the occurrence, the young man was left wondering whether he had dreamt the entire thing or not.

"Did I just experience...what's it called...exploding head syndrome?" Phoenix asked himself as he brought a hand to his head, which had started to fill with worries about how he would cope with the possible new ailment.

"What are you doing just sitting there?!"

The sound of Terry's concerned, angry father voice broke Phoenix out of his haze. The hefty man was standing in the middle of the lounge, staring up at his son in utter befuddlement, as if the youth had just done something incredibly stupid.

"Didn't you hear that explosion?" the father asked.

Before Phoenix could even think of an answer, Terry continued "The heck was that? An earthquake?"

Again, Phoenix tried to answer, but was cut off by his father "Whatever it was, get down here. We're going to the basement."

The raven-haired son decided it would be in his best interest to keep his lips shut and follow Terry's demand, lest another mysterious detonation rocks his treehouse while he's still in the upper level.

As soon as Phoenix's feet hit the hardwood floor, Terry was already ushering the younger towards the door, his thick fingers pinching mild irritation into Phoenix's shoulders. He knew he was just doing what any parent would, but that didn't mean it wasn't annoying.

The two ran outside briefly and looped around the back of the treehouse, where a steel door embedded in concrete protruded from the grass.

Terry put his hand on the scanner and flipped the door as soon as the security device recognized his handprint and released the lock "Get in."

With the aiding hand of Terry, Phoenix hopped down the shoot.

Darkness engulfed him for a brief minute before he landed on a pile of mattresses, pillows and blankets. Despite the soft landing, the young adult still uttered a grunt upon impact and sat still in a daze.

Above him he could hear the door lock shut, followed by the sound of the metal ladder clicking under his father's weight.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop jumping down here and use the ladder?" the hefty man griped as he took his final steps onto the cushion.

"I wanted to hurry," which was only partially true.

After Phoenix realized that the tunnel was wide enough to just drop into the basement instead of taking the ladder, he decided to do that in case of emergency. This was partially prompted by the fact that he and Terry had already laid out a thick safety net of cushions in case the ladder were to ever break. Phoenix, of course, used it for his own intentions.

"Yeah, but don't get yourself killed in the process. That defeats the purpose of even bringing you down here!" Terry lectured before ungracefully stepping off of the pillows and back on to the concrete floors.

The thick layers of cushioning dragged at his feet like quicksand. Phoenix lounged for a few seconds in the plush spot, but the idea of someone possibly coming down from the ladder and falling down on him was enough to yank the young man from his cozy spot.

The basement was a combination of an emergency bunker and an ordinary lounge. Rugs and couches were placed around the large space to make the concrete walls and flooring look a little more hospitable. Two walls were lined with various necessities for survival such as food, water, first aid kits, and flashlights. Towards the far end of the basement was an entertainment center completed with a television, various video game systems, and a bookshelf.

Terry hummed in suspicion as he staggered over to the radio "I guess we should check the emergency news station."

Phoenix wandered around the basement as the man tweaked with the radio's dials. Now looking at the space, Phoenix pondered the idea of possibly lounging in the basement during his free time. Then again, Phoenix reasoned, it would seem like a bit of a hassle to leave the comfort of his treehouse just to find some relaxation.

"What are you guys doing down here?"

Both males jolted at the sound of the female's voice.

Having already been confident that they were the only two individuals present, they were surprised to see Bianca's head poking out from the ceiling from which they had entered, her auburn brown hair falling about her face as she stared at the males in confusion.

"Bianca?! How'd you get in here?" Phoenix questioned.

"Aurora saw you guys come in here and told me to go after you," the orange Fleur answered "I kinda broke the lock, too," she added the last statement as she dropped what appeared to be a slightly melted chunk of metal onto the pile of sheets below her.

"Bianca-!"

"Are you girls okay?" Terry asked before his son could go fully express his shock "I tried to find you when the earthquake happened, but I couldn't."

"Earthquake?" the female twisted and dropped down from the ladder in a practiced manner "Oh, you mean that huge explosion? That wasn't an earthquake," she waved off "That was from the temple."

"The temple?" repeated Phoenix.

"Yeah man! Turns out Nari's Laser Light Cannon tracked down some kind of enemy ship and knocked it out of the sky before it could even get near the atmosphere. How cool is that?"

Terry bit his lip at the mention of his wife's name. Although Phoenix had his back to his father, he could still feel the tension.

"Wait, but that temple's been locked up ever since I moved in," said Phoenix "Why is it open now?"

Bianca raised a brow "It wasn't locked when we got here," she said "The girls and I have been cleaning up that temple ever since we showed up."

Phoenix was now equally confused "Then who opened it?" he asked.

Bianca shrugged "I have no idea," she said "My guess is that the temple was set on a timer or something so that it would only unlock when we were sent here. Remember, you said that mailman put the package on the temple's porch, not your porch."

The raven-haired man opened his mouth to protest, but he realized that this was the most reasonable explanation. Although they didn't have very much solid proof to confirm this claim, it was the only thing he could think of being possible.

Phoenix cleared his throat "So we're safe, then?"

Bianca casually put her hands on her hips "As far as I know, yeah," she said "Aurora and Calypso are still in the temple if you wanna ask them anything else, though."

Eager to uncover the mystery, Phoenix said "Sure, sounds good."

"Great," said Bianca "Wanna join, Mr. Hall?"

The husky man gave a forced smile "Ah, you two go on ahead. I think I'm gonna go back to bed."

"I don't blame you," Phoenix muttered, rubbing the sleep out of his eye.

He allowed Bianca to climb up the ladder before him, making a mental note to keep the door open for his father when he left. However, when Phoenix climbed out onto the surface and saw the charred hole where the lock used to be, he realized that he wouldn't have to do that.

Phoenix gave a heady sigh.

"It was an accident," said Bianca, sheepishly smiling.

Phoenix didn't reply. Instead, he let it go with a roll of his eyes and followed the brunette to the temple.

It was a short walk, really, the temple being eerily close to the treehouse. As usual, Phoenix expected to see the doors shut as always. It always looked as if the windows and doors were painted on and that there was no actual entrance into the temple. However, when he got up close, he noticed the doors were slightly ajar. As if to confirm his disbelief, Bianca casually swung the door fully open and entered. Phoenix followed inside without a word.

From the outside, the temple was black with golden accents. The inside followed the same color scheme, but inverted and much softer. Phoenix was taken aback as his sights were assaulted by chipper yellow color and soft black decor. Unlike the outside, the interior reminded Phoenix more of a castle. A creamy yellow carpet ran the length of the entranceway and covered the black and white diamond floor. The creamy yellow wallpaper peeled slightly here and there and was lined with cute black hearts. Elegant black wood furniture was placed appropriately about, making it clear which room was supposed to serve as which.

" _It's almost as if someone_ did _live here_ ," Phoenix thought.

Bianca lead Phoenix to the heart of the temple, which greatly differed from the other rooms. Unlike the others, this room was completely void of furniture and was in the shape of a perfect circle. Seeing all of the black and white diamonds come to a complete circle almost made Phoenix dizzy. In the center, Calypso and Aurora were inspecting what looked like a yellow flower the size of a preteen. Upon getting closer, Phoenix realized that it was not a real flower.

"What's up, gals?" Bianca greeted.

Aurora looked up from her work "Ah, there he is," she said as she regarded Phoenix, dragging along Calypso's attention as well.

Now with both female's eyes on him, the young man wished he had stopped by the treehouse to change out of his pajamas. However, Calypso made no regard to that as she approached him.

"So I'm sure you and your dad heard the Laser Light Cannon go off," the pink Fleur said, pointing towards the giant flower.

"Yeah," said Phoenix.

Much to the young man's dismay, Bianca added "They thought it was an earthquake."

As if the demeaning statement wasn't enough, Calypso smiled and reassured Phoenix "Well you can tell your dad it's nothing to worry about. It's just a sign that Nari's weaponry is still working."

Before Phoenix could internally mourn over how cowardly he knew he was coming off, Aurora interjected "I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there might  _be_  something to worry about," she said, standing up from her crouching position "The fact that a weapon fired at an enemy ship means that someone out there is capable of sending an attack."

Pridefully placing her hands on her hips, Aurora stated "Which is why I hooked on a tracker to the Cannon," she pointed a manicured nail at the blinked device placed around the base of the flower "It'll track down the information about whatever it hit."

Calypso gave a satisfied hum as she stood up "Impressive."

"So, uh, what do you plan on doing about this?" Phoenix curiously asked.

"We're going to go out there and get rid of the source, of course," Calypso then looked upwards "Wherever "out there" might be…"

Phoenix followed her gaze, remembering how his last trip with the Fleur Girls ended in him walking on some unknown planet. Although frightening in practical terms, the idea of going to another planet intrigued him. In fact, having done so once before, he felt a new sense of confidence and bravery.

Suddenly, the tracking device gave a friendly jingle. Aurora hummed as she stepped over and unhooked it from the flower "Alright, let's see what we've got…"

Phoenix glanced over the blue Fleur's shoulder, despite being unable to read the foreign coordinates on the screen. He watched as Aurora's lithe fingers swiped across the screen to view different images.

"I've got it," she said "It was an EyeCatch launched from the Deloris site over by the twelve sector."

Phoenix's head spun at the mention of these intergalactic terms, especially when he thought of possibly adopting this into his vocabulary if a situation were to occur that he had to attend these missions alone.

"Someone sent a spy-bot?" Bianca asked.

"Apparently," said Aurora "Especially since it's from the Deloris site."

"It looks like we will have to go over there and destroy what ever launch pad is there," said Calypso "And if whoever launched it was confident enough to stay on the site, then we'll get her, too."

Aurora rubbed her chin in thought "Destroy the launch pad, you said?" she then smiled "You know who that sounds like a job for."

Curiosity peaked, Phoenix questioned "Who?"

However, the answer wasn't even remotely close to the young man's expectations.

"Poppy."

Phoenix gave the curly-haired female a confused glance at the sound of the juvenile word.

Calypso looked slightly surprised while Bianca burst into awkward laughter "You're serious, Aurora?" the brunette chuckled.

The Fleur in question snorted "Of course. The two of you make the strongest fasciation out of the three of us."

Phoenix looked between the females "Fasciation?" he repeated "What is that?"

"It's when two Fleurs combine into one."

Silence.

"No, I'm serious."

The raven-haired man opened his mouth to speak, only to close it back up and frown in skepticism.

Aurora scratched at her hair "Maybe it's best if you see it," she looked expectantly at Calypso and Bianca, who then looked at each other and seemed to blush.

"I don't know, Aurora," murmured Calypso "It's been so long since we've fasciated."

"You'll be saying the same thing if you wait for another chance," argued Aurora.

Again, Bianca looked at Calypso, giving a nervous smile "No time like the present, right Ladybug?"

The shorter woman replied with a "Right."

Phoenix watched in bemusement as the two separated until there was at least three meters of space between them. He felt Aurora's fingers laced around his arms and gently pull him away from them "It's best to give them some room," he heard her say.

Calypso placed her hands out before her, the Fleur Buds on her palms glowing "Ready?"

Bianca flipped her orange hair bang as the Fleur Bud on her forehead glowed "You know it."

At this moment, excitement filled Phoenix's being. He had anticipated a glorious event to occur right before him, much like he had seen in his manga. Time seemed to go in slow motion as he waited for the sparks of energy and flashes of colors to entertain him.

The two women started walking closer to each other, their Fleur Buds glowing brighter with every step. They walked in perfect sync, a constant beat guiding them. Just as the two were about to meet.

"Ah…!"

Calypso and Bianca stumbled away from each other when a loud spark snapped between them. Although briefly startled, a look of embarrassment crossed both of their features as they turned to look away from one another.

There was an awkward moment of silence as Phoenix gave Aurora a look that begged for an explanation.

"Uh, they're just a little rusty," said Aurora, patting Phoenix on the shoulder "Like Calypso said, it's been a while."

"Don't be too disappointed, Phoenix," Calypso spoke out "Once we get to the launch site, we'll be able to fasciate properly, right Bianca?"

The orange Fleur gave a less than confident "Right…"

Although the young man still wasn't sure of what to make of the attempted fasciation, Phoenix respectfully told the three "Take your time, guys. There's no need to rush just for me," he then glanced behind himself "In fact, I think I'll get dressed and grab a light breakfast before we leave. How does that sound?"

"Great if you get an apple for me while you're in the treehouse," answered Calypso.

"Didn't you just eat one an hour ago?" questioned Aurora.

Calypso stretched "I need energy to fasciate."

Phoenix shrugged "I'll see if there's any left," he said, turning around to leave "I'll see you guys in a minute."

* * *

Phoenix zipped up his black jacket over his shirt. He then reached for the green apple sitting atop the pile of fruit in the bowl on the kitchen island.

Just as he turned around, he caught sight of Aurora roaming around the living room.

"Hey," he said "Where are Bianca and Calypso?"

Aurora seated herself on the couch "They're on the porch, trying to fasciate again," she reached for the remote on the stand beside her and clicked the television on "Since you're dressed, you guys can get going."

Phoenix raised a brow "Aren't you coming with us?" he asked.

"Nope," said Aurora, not turning her eyes away from the screen as she channel-surfed "Like I said, this is a job for Poppy."

Before Phoenix could bring up another question, Aurora quickly glanced at the front door and beckoned Phoenix closer. He leaned in and Aurora met him halfway "And between you and I," she whispered in his ear "I think it's good that they try to fasciate. They've always had a hard time doing it with each other. Bianca's fast pace and Calypso's strength can get really intense when they combine. I think they're afraid of what—"

The creaking of the door opening caused Aurora to choke on her words. The curly-haired female positioned herself back down on the couch as Phoenix stood erect.

He cleared his throat "I've got the apple," he said, turning around to offer it to Calypso.

A smile presented itself in the pink Fleur's eyes "Thank you," she said as she accepted it.

As Calypso took a bite, Phoenix walked around behind the couch and pulled out a metal bat.

Bianca snorted "You're bringing along your bat again?"

The raven-haired man confidently declared "This one is new."

"We're going to destroy a launch site," said Bianca "I doubt there'd be any Weeds or Bugs there."

Phoenix laid the bat over his shoulder "You never know."

Bianca shrugged "Whatever," she then turned to walk towards the Telepad "Later, Aurora."

"Mm-mm Hmm-mm," Calypso hummed as she waved to the blue Fleur while he other hand held the fruit in her mouth.

Aurora waved back "Have fun," she said.

As the three young adults walked towards the Telepad, Phoenix noticed Aurora looking away from the screen for a split-second and giving him a knowing glance, careful to make sure that Bianca and Calypso hadn't seen her.

* * *

"… _Even though she hadn't said it, I knew Aurora didn't want me to go on the mission to gain my own experience this time. She wanted me to help Bianca and Calypso fasciate. I didn't exactly see a problem with that. Despite their personalities, those two get along pretty well (Hell, if it were Aurora and Bianca who I had to help fasciate, then I would have a problem). Their only setback seems to be that they were having some trouble, well, getting too close. I could see it the split second they were about the fasciate. There was a moment of hesitation that seemed to throw them off balance_ …"

* * *

Phoenix was taken aback by how the planet looked.

Although it was still abandoned like the previous planet, it was much more pleasing to the eyes. A purplish moon shimmered behind the pink clouds. The few grass blades that sprouted from the patches of blue ground shimmered in the light. Even the Telepad they appeared on seemed to clash with the planet's natural beauty.

"Hm, the Telepad was planted pretty close to the launch site," Calypso squinted suspiciously at the intricately laid out pillars and hexagonal pads that seemed to resemble the faces of gemstones. From where they stood, Phoenix could only guess that the strange arrangement created some sort of pattern or shape once seen from above.

"This most likely means whoever launched that EyeCatch has already moved on to another planet," Calypso said, bubbling the apple core in her hand and making it vanish with a simple tap of her fingernail.

"Come on, Bianca," she said as she stepped off of the Telepad "The sooner we take it down, the better."

"No arguments here," Bianca said as she followed suit.

Again, Phoenix watched as the two females gave themselves an ample amount of space. He crossed his fingers in hope that the two would make a successful fasciation. Not only was the anticipation of seeing such a phenomena wearing on him, but he worried for Calypso and Bianca's relationship.

" _They've always had a hard time doing it with each other. Bianca's fast pace and Calypso's strength can get really intense when they combine. I think they're afraid of what—_ "

Just as Aurora's words swam around Phoenix's head, the two Fleurs in question did exactly as she had predicted. This time, Bianca tripped and fell on her side.

"Oh  _Flora_ , Bianca are you alright?" Calypso asked, kneeling down to the orange Fleur's side.

Bianca grunted "I'm fine," she then grumbled "Probably smashed my head on a rock, but I'm fine."

Calypso helped Bianca stand up, even though the female didn't seem to need the help "I'm sorry," she said "Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe one of us should fasciate with Aurora and-"

A distant, windy sounding screech interrupted the pink Fleur.

The ground lowly rumbled and the wind began to stir. Looking up, the three youths saw what looked like a swarm of gnats soaring across the sky. Each one was at least the size of a jet plane and had bird-like beaks from which their shouts came from.

"Bugs? Here?!" Bianca exclaimed.

Calypso gritted her teeth "Get to the site and take cover-"

Just as she finished giving that order, the gnats darted towards the three of them. Phoenix, being the farthest away from the other two, was snatched away from his feet the moment he started running, the metal bat falling from his hands.

"Phoenix!" the two Fleurs screamed in horror.

The young man's own scream was drowned out by the sound of the beating wings of the giant insects around him. His first instinct was to unzip his jacket so that he could free himself, but he was lifted away too fast for him to drop safely and not injure himself. In fact, he curled up against the gnat's talons as they flew almost too close to the tops of the towering pillars.

The speed at which the gnats flew made Phoenix feel as though he might just get blown away, despite the iron grip the gnat had on his arms. The once calm air of the planet was now slapping and scratching at his face.

His body couldn't stand the velocity. He felt like at any moment, he would break. Thankfully, his journey was cut short when he suddenly landed on a patch of softness.

Phoenix panted heavily in an attempt to catch a proper breath of air as he rested his tense muscles against the coarse hairs of the cushioned landing. Phoenix looked up and saw that the gnats had only dropped him off without stopping their flight, leaving him all alone.

When he looked around him, he realized that he had been dropped in what looked like a bird's nest the size of an inflatable swimming pool. The nest, itself, seemed to be perched on what looked like a giant, silver tree.

Phoenix ran his fingers along the floor, grimacing at how the nest seemed to be made of a material reminiscent of plastic doll hair rather than twigs. There were no egg shells or anything one would find in an ordinary bird's nest. However, Phoenix did notice something shining in the corner.

The young man crawled over to it.

It was a purple gemstone about the size of a bar of soap. Intrigued by its beauty, Phoenix picked it up and was surprised to find it not only warm, but slightly soft, like a gel pill. He moved it around in his hands, utterly fascinated, and came across a symbol on one of the sides.

It was a fleur symbol.

For a long moment, Phoenix thought nothing off it, but still felt a tingle down his spine " _Something…isn't right about this_."

His heart leapt in his chest and Phoenix suddenly clutched at his shirt.

"This is a Fleur Bud."

Phoenix looked over the edge of the nest, hoping for a means of escape, but he couldn't even find a tree branch close enough to make a safe landing. That's when he heard the familiar screech of the gnats.

" _Shit!_ "

Phoenix crouched in his corner, hoping to avoid the inevitable as he heard the Bug's wings get closer and louder. Suddenly, a sound similar to that of a firework cracked through the air.

"Haha! Damn I forgot how great if feels to be me!"

Phoenix lifted his head at the sound of the prideful voice. It sounded extremely familiar, but he couldn't place a single name or face on it. Suddenly, a figure leaped from below and gracefully backflipped into the nest with Phoenix, causing even the branch itself to shake.

The raven-haired man was stunned to silence.

Perched confidently in the center of nest was a woman who reached at least ten feet in height. She had a greatly curvaceous hourglass figure supplied by both toned muscle and soft curves. She held a mixture of Asian and Latin features with plump lips lined with shiny pink gloss. Her honey brown eyes were framed by pink visors. Her chocolate brown locks held a single orange highlight. Her thick thighs were barely contained by a pair of orange micro shorts and her heavy bust was held in a pink short-sleeved belly shirt with a heart cutout exposing her cleavage and a turtleneck collar. Golden bangles adorned all four of her arms, which were connected by her shoulders. The only modest thing about her appearance were the black ankle socks poking out of her hot pink shoes. Three peach colored Fleur Buds decorated her body; one on her forehead and two on her hands.

The woman looked down "Hey Phoenix, are you impressed?"

The young man shook as he tried to stammer his response "I…you…how did you…"

“What? You’ve never seen a Fleur this flawless before?” the woman laughed as one pair of her hands shrugged while the other toyed with her grappling hook.

Phoenix noticed the grappling hook was composed of what looked like two pink hooks on the end of an orange rope “Calypso…? Bianca…?”

“It’s Poppy, honey,” she corrected with a flirtatious chuckle.

Just then, more gnats began to fly over to their nest, their screeches more aggressive at the sight of their territory being invaded.

Poppy winked at Phoenix “Take notes, baby boy.”

The fasciation took hold of the blunt end of her grappling hook and flung it towards the gnats, clutching three of them. With a flick of her wrist, a spark of light ran up the length of the grappling hook’s rope and snapped two other gnats into a flurry of sparks.

It created the same "firework" sound that Phoenix had heard earlier.

While more gnats were coming, Poppy squatted downward and grabbed Phoenix with one pair of her arms "Hate to tell you this, babe, but we're gonna have to cut this performance short."

Before Phoenix could even question what she planned to do, the woman flipped backwards and dropped down the the ground below. Phoenix's head swam with intense dizziness, despite the care in which Poppy tried to keep while holding him.

"Hey, hey, don't black out on me yet. We're just getting started!"

The woman then began running. With her incredible height, her long legs carried them at high speed. Although, Phoenix knew it wasn't nearly as fast as the gnats could fly and the could easily be outrun.

Phoenix looked between the gap in Poppy's arms and saw the Bugs catching up. The launch site was close. Phoenix hoped that the fasciation carrying him knew what she was doing.

Suddenly, Phoenix was thrown into the launch site, where the closely packed pillars blocked his view of everything. He could hear Poppy outside fighting off the gnats while the few that she couldn't tend to banged on the pillars. Phoenix started to worry when he saw the pillars cracking. Just how long would his cage of protection really last?

When all of the pillars suddenly crashed around him, he screamed, covering his head as he waited for the horrid creatures to snatch him away again, but they never did.

Not even the crushing fragments of the pillars rained down upon him. Phoenix looked up, noticing a flurry and pink and orange shimmering fragments fall from the sky. When they got close to him, he noticed they were charred like burnt paper. He stood in the unrecognizable dust pile that once was the launch site.

He then heard the heavy footsteps of Poppy approaching him.

Phoenix lifted his eyes up at the beautiful woman as she squatted down to his level, her heavy bust resting on her knees.

She gave another laugh "Were you scared?" she asked "I saw those Gnats trying to get into the launch site and I was like "Hey, I could kill two birds with one stone, Y'know what I'm saying?" she ended the statement with a gun motion and a click of her tongue.

Phoenix nodded, still amazed by what he had just seen "That…that was amazing," he said "I still can't believe it! You two actually fused!"

"Fasciated, baby boy," corrected Poppy.

"Right, fasciated…" Phoenix wavered, feeling unsteady. His adrenaline rush was gone and now his vertigo was catching up to him. Even the pangs of bruises had had gotten from being tossed around were starting to flourish.

"You alright there?" questioned Poppy when she noticed Phoenix's eyes go unfocused.

Phoenix gripped his head "Yeah," he said "I'm think I'm just…feeling a little motion sickness from…oh god—"

* * *

Aurora turned her head at the sound of the Telepad whirring. She then grinned widely at the sight of the two individuals who materialized into the living room.

"See? Now was that so hard?" she said.

The fasciation in question chuckled "You were right," she said "I decided to stay like this for a little longer just to show you the magic! Now that we're back home…" The tall woman glowed a vibrant peach color before finally splitting into two separate forms; one pink and one orange.

Both girls were panting and were red in the face, but they each had smiles of clear enjoyment.

"Whoa…" Calypso breathed, neatening her slightly disheveled hair. She gave a weak chuckle "It…sure has been a while since we did something like that, hm?"

"Yeah…!" cosigned Bianca, who was just as out of breath.

Aurora then turned to Phoenix, who looked contently at the two Fleurs "So Phoenix, Poppy aside, how did the mission go for you?"

"Well he threw up in the end, so that's something," Bianca stated.

Phoenix frowned at the woman "Dammit Bianca…!"


	8. Nari's Scabbard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a busy (but fun) few weeks of finals testing, AP testing, prom, and graduation, I am happy to say that I am back to writing! And with my return, I have also created a new blog that will promote ALL of my stories:" princejacque". Here, you will not only get updates of my stories, but also character trivia, teasers, writing/drawing tips, and memes of my stories (I'm sorry, but I just love memes too much). Thank you all for your patience and support!

Chapter Title: Nari's Scabbard

* * *

"I propose a petition to give ourselves a new name."

Phoenix suddenly stated this in the midst of breakfast with Aurora and Bianca, finally deciding to give in to their wishes and serve them food whenever they requested it. He clearly wasn't in any authoritative position over them.

"What do you mean "new name"?" asked Aurora.

"Something other than Fleur Girls," explained Phoenix before quickly adding "For obvious reasons."

Bianca scoffed "Bud, a little femininity's not gonna hurt you."

"It's not about femininity," Phoenix then blushed "I mean, sure, I wouldn't look good in a frilly magical girl dress b-but that's besides the point...!"

The man cleared his throat as if to dismiss his previous ramblings "By calling us Fleur Girls, you're excluding me, a guy--if not outright misgendering me."

Aurora briefly dwelled on the claim and then gave a nod "You're right, Phoenix. I didn't even think of that until you said something," she apologized "It's not that we're trying to be exclusionary or anything. It's just that Nari always called us that because, well, that's what we were: the Fleur Girls. I mean, yeah, all Fleurs are girls, but it's like we were  _her_  Fleur Girls, y'know? And we--"

"Okay, okay, I think he gets the point," interrupted Bianca with a slight chuckle.

* * *

" _It's been a month and a half since I first met the Fleur Girls, and overall, I'd say our relationship has improved a great deal. I had finally gotten into the motion of attending missions with them, opting to sit and observe rather than actually try to fight (I've learned my lesson from the first trial). I've even managed to help by noticing minute details the Fleurs missed while they were in the midst of fighting. Remember that Fleur Bud I found in the beetles' nest? It turned out that it wasn't the "dead remains of a Fleur" that I thought it was. Aurora explained to me that when a Fleur's physical body gets severely damaged, they revert back to their bud state to heal, meaning that she was far from dead. By the time Calypso transported back to the planet where I saw the Bud, she said the Fleur had already regenerated and was fully healed. Though, I wish I knew where that Fleur was living now. I felt like she could have lived with us if we offered. Oh well, she probably had a family to return to back on Botanica_ …"

* * *

Phoenix waved off Terry from his high position at his balcony. The man below, fully dressed, waved back in kind "G'bye, Phoenix! Don't be too bored while I'm gone."

The droopy-eyed young man yawned into his words "No promises…"

It wasn't in Phoenix's nature to wake up at such an early hour, but he wanted to see off his father as he returned to work. He wanted to enjoy every last second of his father's presence, even until the very end.

He watched as Terry closed himself within his van and drove out of the forest.

" _Alone again_ ," Phoenix shrugged. He then blinked as he came to the realization that what he had said was incorrect.

He roamed back into his bedroom, closing the balcony door behind him " _Without Dad around, I guess I could spend time with the Fleur Girls_ ," he thought to himself, stretching his arm over his head " _I wonder what we could do together_..."

A frown presented itself on Phoenix's features as a suggestive thought crossed his mind " _I swear, the more time I spend with Harper, the deeper in the gutter my mind sinks_."

At this point, the raven-haired man noticed that he was no longer felt the weight of sleepiness on his eyes.

He looked out at the pastel-colored sky that through the glass doors of his balcony. The sun had yet to fully peek out over the horizon and announce the arrival of morning.

A feeling of rejuvenation swept over Phoenix's senses. The day was his to spend.

" _And I'm not starting it with the same old stop by The Velvet Haven_."

Phoenix descended down the stairs and made a beeline for the Telepad. His bare feet stuck to the cold surface, which ran a shiver up his spine.

"Time to experiment with that room," the young man rubbed his hands together in anticipation as his figure disappeared into lily petals.

When his body was reconstructed, his eager grin dissolved into confusion as he took in the sights around him.

The endless night sky encompassed his vision. Among the deep blue and violet void, countless stars beamed brightly and twinkled brighter than Phoenix had ever seen in his life.

Living in the forest, Phoenix was able to see the natural night stars without the interference of city lights. However, these stars seemed even closer and had depth to them. They were no longer just specks of light. They were like individual crystals that he could reach out to and grab.

"Phoenix? What are you doing here?!"

The ink-haired man flinched at the sound of Aurora's voice. Looking forward, he saw the blue Fleur, herself, approaching him "What's wrong? Why are you here?" She was dressed in a lazy attire of baggy pajama pants hanging off of her hips and a spaghetti strap top. Her charcoal black curls were sloppily splayed around her copper brown face.

Aurora's frantic questioning shook Phoenix "N-Nothing. I'm sorry, I just, I was trying to get to Nari's room."

Aurora released a sigh of relief "You scared me," she said "I didn't expect you to come into my room so early in the morning."

Phoenix furrowed his brow "Your room?" he questioned. He further studied his surroundings and noticed that despite the endless night sky, carpet was surrounding the Telepad he stood on. Behind Aurora was a large, round bed with a blanket set that made the bed look like a crescent moon. A blue bass guitar leaned against the bedpost. To further add to the cosmic theme, a large shelf in the shape of a large crescent moon encircled the area. It was lined with countless CDs. On one end of the shelf was a radio and stereo set to contain all of the music.

Aurora took notice of Phoenix's gaze and said "I'm guessing this was an accident, then."

Phoenix bit his lip and shrugged "I was trying to get to Nari's room," he mentally tutted for repeating his earlier statement "I guess I need more practice."

"Yeah," Aurora said "Remember to be careful what you ask from the Telepad."

"Gotcha," Phoenix said, feeling a bit embarrassed for his mistake.

"Well, I hope you have fun when you get there," Aurora said as a form of farewell.

Phoenix nodded "Uh, same."

The man mentally slapped himself for the lackluster response " _God, what am I? Fifteen?_ " he thought.

The Telepad glowed as he thought of Nari's room " _I'd honestly be impressed if I could get any more awkward_."

In that instant, Phoenix's figure dispersed into lily petals. However, the male noticed a strange shift in his transportation.

When he opened his eyes, the scent of strawberries and alstroemeria tickled his senses. He squinted as the sight of the dark night sky was instantly replaced with the soft colors of pink clouds.

A large, heart-shaped pink bed with a sheer canopy held pillows just as billowy as the clouds around him. A large wardrobe and dresser set of the same rosy color accented the sight.

Phoenix walked forward, taking in the sight "Wow," he commented "It's like I stepped into a fairy tale book."

The faint sound of water moving approached Phoenix's ears. When he turned around, a hissed "Shit!" slipped past his lips.

Behind the Telepad was Calypso, engulfed by the pink soap suds of her bathtub. Although her stoic face didn't display much of a reaction, the movement in the suds showed that she was covering herself, and the subtle shadow over her eyes showed embarrassment and shock.

"Oh god, I-I didn't mean-" Phoenix placed a hand over his eyes as he fumbled to defend himself "I'll just-just leave."

Calypso watched as Phoenix felt around for the Telepad with his foot before finally finding it and disappearing the way he came. She sighed as she relaxed into the bathwater.

* * *

Back at home, the figure of Phoenix patted his cheeks in mental berating formed onto the Telepad. Amongst the many curses and bitter statements he tossed at himself, a contrastingly calm " _I think that's enough of the Telepad for now,_ " was thrown into the mixture, making his final decision on his destination.

Once home, the youth shook his head of his humiliation, but halted when he stepped off of the Telepad.

An extremely foreign and very unsettling sound had reached his ears: crying. Feminine crying.

It emerged through the sliver of the ajar door of the guest bedroom. Phoenix frowned, both in pain and befuddlement.

" _That doesn't sound like anyone I recognize,"_  he thought " _Did...a homeless woman stumble in here?_ "

He approached the door, unsure of what to make of the situation. He crooked his fingers with the intention of knocking, then pulled them back when he decided against it. He looked into the sliver of the door in hopes of seeing something important, but it was much too small. Finally, decided to take hold of the door and slowly open it.

It creaked and squeaked, announcing his intrusion. Part of Phoenix had hoped for this, as he wasn't exactly sure if he wanted to surprise the woman inside.

"H-Hello…?" he tentatively asked "Is someone...are you okay?"

The young man was surprised to find not a helpless stranger, but rather, Bianca.

Tears stained the cheeks that once held countless smirks of provocation. Redness clouded the vibrant eyes that always seemed to gleam in hindsight. To make the sight even more pitiful, the orange Fleur was seated on the floor rather than the bed, clutching what looked like a black scabbard with gold accents in her arms.

Immediately, Bianca turned and wiped her face with the bed's blanket "Hey, what's up, Phoenix?" she greeted as if nothing had happened.

The man was almost offended by this cheap attempt at trickery "Bianca? What happened?"

"Hm? Nothing, just tired, y'know?"

"You're crying."

"This?" Bianca pointed at her face as if she were regarding a simple accessory "Tch, It's just my allergies acting up. I was just having a sneezing fit a minute ago."

Phoenix's brows knit together "Bianca, you are literally part flower! Just how dumb do you think I am?!" he didn't mean to snap. He had never even been told anything in regards to Fleurs having allergies, but Bianca's excuse still angered him. He had seen her crying and there is no way for him to be convinced otherwise.

Rather than matching the other's anger, Bianca continued to fall further into the delusion "Look, I'm fine," she said with a casual tone "There's nothing wrong, Phoenix, so stop worrying about it, alright?"

"Cut, cut, cut!"

Phoenix jumped with a muttered curse as he noticed Nepenthes sitting on the other side of the room.

He was sitting in what looked like a film director's chair on a movie set with a clapperboard in his hand. A pair of professional-looking glasses rested on his nose to further accent his point. Once he stood up, however, all of those objects vanished into purple dust.

"That's not how it's supposed to go at all!" he chastised, walking over to the young man "Phoenix, here, is supposed to question the object in Bianca's arms," he said, motioning towards Bianca from behind Phoenix "To which Bianca is supposed to give in and reveal that it is the scabbard to Nari's sword."

To this, Bianca actually showed a spark of anger "Hey, don't butt in," she quipped.

A smile seemed to spread of Nepenthes' face in sheer amusement "Oh? I'm simply trying to help solve the problem, my dear Iris."

"No, you're just trying to mess shit up like you always do," Bianca muttered, angrily.

Nepenthes gasped "Such foul language for a Fleur! How do you think Nari would feel to hear you speaking that way?"

At this, Bianca whipped her head at the man "Don't you talk about her…!" she growled.

Nepenthes sauntered around the room as he spoke "What-? She was a great woman," he said in mock innocence "What's the harm in speaking of her if it's in respect?"

Phoenix looked down at Bianca's trembling figure, then back up at the male "Hey, whatever you're doing, stop it," he spoke sternly.

At this, Nepenthes gave an impressed grin "Bravo, Phoenix, bravo!" he said, clapping his hands in applause "When you refused to question your mother's scabbard in Bianca's hands, I figured that all hope of you putting your foot down was lost, but you've surprised me," he then sauntered over to Bianca "Now if you could just assert that dominance towards Bianca, we might be able to find out what the little Iris is so upset about."

"I'm not upset and even if I was, it's none of your business!" the brunette hissed.

Again, Nepenthes tutted "Didn't Nari ever teach you about honesty?"

Bianca jumped to her feet as she scolded "Stop talking about her!"

"Why?" this time, the male asked this in an aggressive tone "Why wouldn't you want to talk about the very woman who acted as your mother? She raised you since you bloomed. She did everything a mother should. There's no reason for you not to want to discuss such a lovely woman. So tell me, Orange Iris, what are you trying to avoid hearing?"

Phoenix expected another fiery retort from Bianca, some sort of explosion with an onslaught of insults and profanity. And in all honesty, Phoenix was ready to cheer her on. However, that didn't happen at all. In fact, Bianca's response was nothing like Phoenix had anticipated.

Rather than lashing out, the brunette's jaw clenched as a new wave of tears brimmed her eyes. She ducked her head down as she tears spilled onto the floor. She then ran out of the room, tossing the scabbard down behind her with a loud clatter.

Phoenix stood in awe, shocked by what he had seen and how fast it had gone by. In the few weeks that he had lived with Bianca, she had never gotten genuinely angry. Her harsh words towards unfavorable situations were always used as a way to amuse herself and stand her ground. But just now, the brunette had crumbled apart right before his very eyes.

"It was foolish of me to think such a young Fleur could be mature enough to face her own problems," Nepenthes said, showing no remorse.

Finally snapped out of his shock, Phoenix turned to Nepenthes "What is wrong with you?" he asked "What would make you come here just to taunt someone until they break down?"

Again, Nepenthes looked on in naivety "What? No, no. I was simply trying to help Bianca come to terms with what happened to Nari. Surely, you would understand, having known where she is now," he said this last statement placing a hand on Phoenix's chest, directly where his Fleur bud was.

Without missing a beat, Phoenix swatted it away "Don't even try to guilt me!" he scolded "It doesn't matter what your intentions were; Bianca did not ask for your help! You have no right to come here and harass my family!" he then stopped himself and turned away "Tch, but here I am wasting my time trying to talk to a cannibal about morals."

Nepenthes didn't speak, but he wasn't smiling either. Either way, Phoenix didn't care to look back at him. However, he did look down at the scabbard that Bianca threw down.

He bent down and picked it up, holding it in his arms for a moment before he left the room.

The youth immediately went to the Telepad out in the front room, the scabbard still held firmly in his arms.

"Take me to where Bianca is."

* * *

Phoenix had braced himself for what to expect of the Telepad, ranging from the odd planets he had visited to the fanciful rooms of the Fleurs. When the result was the latter, he wasn't sure whether to be grateful or not.

Sheets of sweat immediately began to roll down Phoenix's forehead as the heat from the flames reached him. The Telepad he stood on was embedded in hardwood floors. Around him, flames flickered behind what looked like windows, almost like those digital fireplaces he's seen. However, he knew that they were real flames and not a simple image. Ahead, Phoenix could see Bianca's curled up figure sitting on the floor, her back to him.

Immediately, Phoenix stepped out, but recoiled when his barefoot was scalded.

A hiss and strip of steam emitting from the floor before him. Like meat on a skillet, the hardwood floor had burned the bottom of his foot, not enough to show visible scarring, but enough to hurt.

Phoenix looked back up at Bianca and then back down at the floor. There was a bed just beside her, the only place that would protect him from the heat around him.

The youth took in a deep breath and bound forward.

The sound of hissing and Phoenix's wearied breathing caught Bianca's attention almost immediately. She turned around, wide-eyed "Phoenix!"

Putting her hands out, a lush, orange and gold pillow appeared before Phoenix, who promptly lost his balance and fell face-forward on the large pillow.

"Are you crazy?! You could've hurt yourself!" Bianca scolded. The tears on the corners of her eyes were evaporating into steam before they even got the chance to slide down her cheeks. Her orange hair bang was now a flickering flame swaying gently across her face. "Never do something stupid like that again, you hear me?!"

Phoenix put his hand out to stop Bianca. The orange Fleur looked down at him in befuddlement.

"I had to come in and make sure you were okay," he breathed out, lethargically lifting his head up from the pillow.

Bianca looked at him in surprise for a moment. Then she held his hand, the flame beside her face solidifying back into orange hair. The tears were finally given a chance to slide down her cheeks without being turned into steam. She gave a weak laugh "You really are crazy, buddy."

* * *

Phoenix sat comfortably on the floor, having Bianca's calmed mood revert the room back to its normal temperature.

The Fleur, herself, held an icepack between the soles of Phoenix's feet in silence.

"So," said Phoenix "Do you want to talk about it?"

Bianca hesitated, not looking up from Phoenix's feet.

"You don't have to," said Phoenix "I don't want to make you do anything you're not comfortable with."

Bianca closed her eyes for a moment, then said "As much as I hate to admit it, Old 'Penthes back there was right about me not wanting to talk about Nari."

She held onto Phoenix's ankle with a tender touch "First of all, Phoenix, I never want you to feel responsible for her. Just because I miss having her here doesn't mean I don't love you the same," she said "I know this isn't easy for you either. Hell, you're her son, and here we all are talking about her when you've never gotten the chance to even meet her."

She bit her lip and chuckled "You two would've gotten along great. She loved dorks like you," Bianca then sighed "I know it's nothing compared to what you must feel as her son, but I miss her too. I miss her so much, it hurts. I think about her every single day. It's just, I never wanted to bring it up because...I know you're hurting even more. Does anything I'm saying make sense?" She looked up at the male, who looked back at her in disbelief.

"Bianca, this isn't a contest to see whose pain is more valid. If there's something upsetting you, tell me," he said as though it were obvious "Look, we're all going through things, and you're doing a huge disservice to yourself by keeping all of your feelings in."

Bianca opened her mouth to respond only to press her lips together tightly. She then gave a tearful chuckle "God, you even sound like her."

Phoenix repositioned himself and embraced the orange Fleur "It's going to be okay," he said "We'll get through this together. We're family after all, right?"

More tears flowed freely from Bianca's eyes, but not out of anguish.

"Right."


	9. Artemis

Chapter Title: Artemis

* * *

"Bianca please stop staring at me. You're making me feel self-conscious."

The brunette perked her head up from her resting position on the couch, where she had been watching Phoenix read his manga book in silence for the past ten minutes.

"What? I'm trying to think of another nickname for you," she scoffed "I don't just slap on some cliche pet name to my friends, y'know. It's gotta have meaning."

Phoenix raised a brow "What was so meaningful about "buddy"?" he asked.

"Well, I was kinda worried when we first met you and you didn't have a Fleur Bud. I mean, that's like your heart. So I was pretty glad when you told us it did," Bianca explained "That and your reaction to it was kinda funny."

Phoenix rolled his eyes, not too enthusiastic to remember that moment " _Especially with that petty argument I made that day,_ " he thought.

"Yeah, I give nicknames to pretty much everyone," said Bianca, jumping back to the initial topic "Aurora's is Starshine and Calypso's is Ladybug."

Phoenix gave a skeptical look at the orange Fleur "And…they're okay with that?"

"Yeah man, we're like sisters," Bianca brushed off "Now as for you, I'm thinking about calling you Panda Bear."

Despite having heard Bianca's previous nicknames, he was still mildly surprised by her remark "Why Panda Bear?" he asked.

Quick as a whip, the brunette replied "You're black and white all over. Well, not so much after your hair changed, but y'know."

Phoenix touched his hair bang, which he constantly forgot was there despite the many times he saw it in the mirror.

In that moment, the sound of the front door reached the two youths.

"Is Phoenix here?"

"Maybe. What about Bianca?"

Phoenix cupped his hand beside his mouth and called out "We're over here!"

Just as suspected, the sources of the muffled voices were Aurora and Calypso.

"Starshine, Ladybug, what's up?" casually greeted Bianca.

"It looks like we're not entirely out of the woods yet on the Deloris site," naturally replied Calypso "We found something else on the same planet, but in a different location. It looks suspicious."

Aurora, who had been holding the tracking device, turned it over to Bianca "Can you tell what it is?"

The brunette took hold of the device and tapped her fingers across the screen in fluid motions. She then frowned "Yikes, it's an Allegretto York launch pad," she grumbled.

"Another launch pad?" questioned Phoenix.

"Well, I was right," Aurora said, put her hands on her hips "This is definitely something we'll need Bianca for."

"And our favorite partner in crime," Calypso added, subtly grinning in Phoenix's direction "But that goes without saying, really."

"Alright, let's do it," Bianca declared as she jumped to her feet "C'mon Panda, you could show us that forcefield you were talking about the other day," she then added as she and Calypso started walking towards the Telepad.

Aurora looked in Phoenix's direction "Did she just call you—"

"Unfortunately, yes."

* * *

The quartet had returned to the familiar land of pink clouds and blue dirt. As they walked around, Phoenix took in the natural beauty of the abandoned planet, almost disappointed that there were no inhabitants to appreciate it. At some point during their trek, another spectacle captured the young man's attention.

A large, willowy white structure resembling a tree towered up to the high heavens. On its curved branches hung micro thin strings not unlike spider silk that held flat diamonds on the ends. The way they gently and slowly spun from the small disturbances in the air reminded Phoenix of the way a person's dangling earrings would hang from their ears. Each diamond seemed to pulsate with a gentle energy, much like a heartbeat.

"Wow…" Phoenix gasped just as he was about to approach the structure.

"Whoa, slow down there cowboy," Bianca said as she grabbed his arm.

Confused, Phoenix questioned "What? It's only a tree."

"That may be what it looks like to you," started Aurora "But it's actually the launch pad. Each one of those diamonds up there is a bomb ready to detonate."

Phoenix stared back at the "tree". The diamonds were paper thin, vanishing out of sight whenever they would turn their side to him. He couldn't believe something so small could honestly be considered a bomb.

"Which is why we should take care of it immediately," said Calypso as she began stretching her arms across her chest.

Aurora nervously scratched the back of her head "Uh, actually…I was already planning on fasciating with Bianca."

Calypso halted "Hm?"

"For once, I actually kinda agree with you, Aurora," coincided Bianca "Poppy knows how to kick ass and knock down a building or two, but this is an Allegretto York. One wrong move and…" Bianca flew open her hands as she made an explosion noise "…This whole galaxy's toast."

"I see," Calypso said as she put her arms down "I do tend to make our fasciations a bit too…aggressive."

"Plus, this will give Phoenix a chance to see Hydrangea," added Aurora as she clasped her fingers together and flexed them.

Phoenix tried to contain his excited smile, and cleared his throat "That—that sounds pretty cool. Go for it," he said, coolly.

With that, Aurora and Bianca took their positions.

Phoenix remembered to step back a little farther, and Calypso followed his lead.

Again, the respective Fleurs' Buds began glowing. With every synchronized step they took toward one another, the light glowed brighter. What happened next, though, caused Phoenix's mind to go hazy in disbelief.  
A swirling sphere of energy enclosed the space the two women shared. Strips of orange and blue energy spun on the orb's surface like a whirlwind, almost like he was watching the process of glassblowing.  
Phoenix looked to Calypso for reasoning. The Asian woman gave but a single reassuring nod to Phoenix, one that said "Yes, this is supposed to happen."  
Then he remembered that he never did get to see Calypso and Bianca's fasciation all the way to completion. When Poppy finally arrived, he was stuck in the Beetles' nest.  
Phoenix returned his gaze and noticed that the orange and blue streaked orb was transparent. Inside, he could see a pair of silhouettes of the same colors gliding across a plain in a very choreographed manner. The lithe, blue silhouette swung her long limbs freely and effortlessly. The ample, orange silhouette moved quickly with energetic and aggressive movements.  
"...Figure skating..."  
Yes. That's what it looked like, Phoenix realized.  
The two Fleurs then grabbed onto one another's hands, combining their unique dances into a single tango. Then, as their dance came to an exciting crescendo, the sphere around them exploded into teal energy.

Phoenix actually felt the need to shield his eyes.

"Hello, I heard someone called for Miss Hydrangea!" the fasciation greeted with a flip of her hair.

Again, Phoenix couldn't help but be stunned by the sight before him "Um, yes…you did."

The woman laughed "Oh, but of course  _we_  did!"

This fasciation was much taller than Poppy, at least by a foot. Aurora's skinny body and Bianca's thick curves gave the woman a very practical and average figure. Her skin color was a rich brown from Bianca and Aurora's Latin and black features. Framing her face was a bed of caramel brown waves with a faded orange bang. She wore a black leotard, the bust of which concealed by an off-shoulder teal crop top with a star and magenta straps. She wore nothing on her bottom except for teal leg warmers over her magenta sneakers. She had four arms. However, the second set started from the incline of her waist. A teal Fleur Bud crowned her forehead, and the diamond cutout on her leotard revealed one around her navel.

The fasciation knelt down to her knees "It's nice to formally meet you, Phoenix," she said as she extended a hand twice as large as the young man's "As you may know, I am Hydrangea, but you may simply call me Heidi or Gia. I don't mind!"

Again, the fasciation laughed. Phoenix returned his own friendly chuckle as he shook the woman's hand "Ah well, Hydrangea works just fine," he said.

"Classic Hydrangea it is," chirped the woman as she stood up "Now, let's take care of these bombs, shall we?" Seemingly from nowhere, two of Hydrangea's arms pulled out Aurora's star spear and Bianca's pyro whip. In an instant, she crossed the two over one another as they became a bow.

Phoenix gazed in amazement, his mouth agape.

"Now, the trick is to hit each diamond individually," explained Hydrangea "A single explosion from one is safe. They were spaced out so that an explosion from one won't trigger another—that is, if you hit it  _perfectly_."

The woman pulled the orange string of the bow with her two left hands, and a shining arrow formed between her fingers. After a breath of hesitation, the arrow was released.

Phoenix felt himself tense up as the arrow zoomed towards the launch pad. He was sure that it was much too large and would probably annihilate the entire structure. However, in the short second it penetrated through the air, the arrow had thinned out to nothing but a slender lightening bolt, hitting the single diamond dead center.

The diamond shattered into tiny crystals and faded in the wind.

"And that's how you do it!" said Hydrangea.

"Whoa, that was amazing!" Phoenix gushed "I would have never suspected your fasciation would be something like this."

"Oh, and what were you expecting? Some type of hastily put together hybrid?" Hydrangea scoffed "You underestimate me, dear Phoenix!"

Just as the fasciation began to aim for another diamond, Calypso tapped Phoenix's shoulder "You know, this might take a long time, considering all the diamonds," she said, motioning towards the thousands hanging from the launch pad.

"Yeah, you're right," Phoenix admitted in a defeated tone "But let's stick around for a little bit longer," he insisted.

Calypso briefly looked to the side for a moment "I just remembered that I have something important to do at the temple," she said "You can stay here with Hydrangea, but I'm going to head out."

"Oh, okay then," said Phoenix.

And with that Calypso left.

* * *

"… _I know Calypso's emotions are usually hard to read, but I still feel like I should have seen through the lie. I should have known she was bothered_ …"

* * *

Calypso slipped out of her bed and walked over to her Telepad. When she was reconstructed again by the lily petals, she was back in Phoenix's house. She then made a beeline for the kitchen.

The pink Fleur stepped up to the kitchen island, where the fruit bowl was. There was one last apple left. She would have to tell Phoenix that they need to get more.

When she reached for it with her left hand, she noticed the Fleur Bud on it.

Scarred.

The skin on her Fleur Bud had always been that way for as long as she could remember. If she looked at her palm, she would see the same. It was hardly noticeable since the rouge scars matched her rouge Fleur Bud. It only helped in making it look more crooked than it already was.

Moisture fell onto her hand.

Immediately, Calypso reached up to her face in disbelief. She hadn't cried in decades. Not since…

The sound of the Telepad shook the pink Fleur out of her haze. She turned around to see Phoenix lazily stepping off of the device with a yawn.

"I presume Hydrangea is still taking care of the launch pad?" Calypso asked, her voice void of any trouble or sorrow.

"Yup," confirmed Phoenix "As cool as it was to watch, an hour is about all I could take."

He made his way over to the kitchen and walked past Calypso to get to the refrigerator "Do you want anything?"

Calypso glanced back at the apple "We need more apples," she said as she took it, leaving the bowl barren.

* * *

"… _As Calypso said, it did take hours for Hydrangea to take down all the diamond bombs. So I wasn't concerned when I was all ready for bed, and Bianca and Aurora hadn't come back. When I woke up that morning to find that they still hadn't come back, I decided to ask Calypso if something was wrong. Even when she shot down my worries with a curt "They're fine," I still didn't catch on to her mood. I just wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe that everything was okay. Days passed, but I still wanted to believe Calypso_ …"

* * *

"Hey, Phoenix."

The two words cut through the stale air.

Calypso and Phoenix were having yet another silent breakfast together. With Phoenix's father back at work, and the two Fleurs missing, the house was deathly quiet.

"Is something bothering you?" she asked "You haven't said anything other than "Good morning," today."

"Huh? Oh no, I'm fine," Phoenix replied "Sorry, it's just…there's not much to talk about, really."

The silence then resumed, the only sound present being the utensils scraping against the plates.

Again, it was Calypso who cut through that silence "You don't really talk to me at all…even when there are things to talk about."

Phoenix's nerves itched at the statement. It would have been different if Calypso's assumption was just that: an assumption. However, Phoenix knew that she was completely right. He never spoke to her unless she spoke first. The only times he had ever been in a conversation with her was when Bianca and Aurora were also present. Phoenix just didn't know how to interact with someone as stoic and introverted as Calypso.

"No! It's not like that. It's just…" the young man struggled to fabricate an excuse, but the elongated pause acted as his answer, alone.

The Asian Fleur didn't respond. Her eyes kept to her plate of food as she moved it around with her fork.

"Listen, it's not that I don't like you. I do!" Phoenix defended "It's just…I don't know, sometimes, I guess, I'm intimidated by you."

The raven-haired man never knew that there would be a day where he admitted that. Now that he did, he felt a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Although, the surprise in Calypso's eyes made Phoenix see his relief as inappropriate.

"You…you are?"

Phoenix anticipated the stoic woman to make some sort of assertive statement, something to reassure Phoenix that his fear was irrational. That's why her actual response made his blood run cold.

"I had no idea. I never meant to frighten you," she said softly, her gaze averted "I'm sorry."

A pang of guilt ran up Phoenix's spine at the sight of the meekness of the woman before him. Part of him expected someone to tell him it was a joke, that Calypso was only tricking him to teach him some sort of lesson, but no such thing happened.

"N-No, you don't have to be…"

As Calypso folded her hands, Phoenix took notice of the left one.

* * *

"… _I knew Calypso had scars on one of her hands, which I automatically assumed was from battle. But when I looked at them again, they looked worse than before_ …"

* * *

The pause what cut short by the sound of the Telepad whirring behind Phoenix. Both youths looked to see Hydrangea standing there.

"Ah, good morning, lovelies," she greeted with a smile and wave of both her right arms.

"Guys?! You're still fasciated?!" Phoenix sputtered.

Hydrangea scoffed ""Guys"? I see no "guys" here—well, other than you, dear Phoenix." She ended that statement with a proper laugh.

Phoenix looked at Calypso, whose dark eyes swam with uncertainty.

She then steeled herself and said "You were gone for over a week. What have you been doing this whole time? Were you still on that planet?"

"Oh, I was simply roaming around through the galaxies," replied Hydrangea.

"The galaxies?!" Phoenix coughed "How?!"

"Through the Telepads of course!" chimed Hydrangea "Anyway, whilst I was perusing through the planets, I've been doing some thinking."

"Thinking…" Calypso repeated in skepticism.

"When in this state, I am the perfect Fleur," continued Hydrangea "I have the highest efficiency, agility, precision, and intelligence out of all of us."

"Hm," Calypso said, stiffly "And where is this going?"

The brunette scoffed "Isn't it obvious? I should stay fasciated."

Calypso's fingers covered her lips in surprise, her eyes widened.

Again, Phoenix's reaction surpassed the pink Fleur's "Are you insane? You can't just—you can't just stay like that forever!"

"You've seen my power, Phoenix. You know what a great asset I am to the team," defended Hydrangea "I can do things Aurora and Bianca can't do on their own."

Suddenly, Calypso spoke up "I believe that you two have been fasciated for too long," she sternly stated "You're not thinking rationally."

One pair of the brunette's arms crossed while the other their hands planted firmly on her hips "That's quite the claim coming from you," she scoffed.

Hydrangea's gaze then turned smug "Let's make a deal," she said "To prove my efficiency, why don't you and I duel in Nari's arena?"

Calypso's frowned "You…want to fight?"

The brunette chuckled "Just a friendly little sparring," she reassured "If you're victorious, I'll split. If I win…" she smirked, almost sinfully "…I remain."

A small part of Phoenix wanted to question the arena that both women apparently knew about, but given his current situation, he pushed that curiosity to the back of his mind.

"Okay."

Calypso's response caused the young man to whip his head in her direction "What? Calypso!"

The pink Fleur stepped down from the kitchen island and walked towards the Telepad.

"Glad we could come to an agreement," smirked Hydrangea.

"Wait," Phoenix hopped off of his seat and hurried to the Telepad "I'm coming, too."

"Oh! You'd like to see more of my abilities?" Hydrangea boasted "Well, if you were impressed by my archery skills, then you must see my battling skills."

Phoenix rolled his eyes. As they vanished, he started to realize that he did not like the fasciation.

* * *

The arena took Phoenix's breath away.

The room resembled an extremely large and open-spaced greenhouse. Leaves coated the floors, and their wispy roots crept up the incredibly high glass windows. Pearl white light pooled in from the rounded glass ceiling and through the windows. Along the walls were beds made of moss and dark wood shelves with various supplies. In the center of the room, the arena mirrored a large checkerboard with black and pastel yellow squares. Golden ropes ran the perimeter of the arena like a wrestling ring.

"Shall we begin?"

"Yes."

While Phoenix was exploring the room, Hydrangea and Calypso had already taken their positions inside of the arena. He hurried to the rope and looked up at the two "Guys, wait. This is ridiculous," he said "Hydrangea, just split up already and let's go home."

The fasciation ignored him "Come on now, Casey. I'll even let you have the first go," she said in a sickeningly condescending tone.

Calypso crossed her arms and fans quickly appeared in her hands when she separated them. She briefly squared herself before lunging with a swipe.

Her fan was merely an inch away from Hydrangea's chest before it was gripped by the taller Fleur. Calypso was then swung backwards and bounced against the ropes.

Phoenix gasped, but Calypso immediately stood back up "It's okay, Phoenix," she said "It's not a real fight."

Hydrangea laughed "I'm sure you can do better than that, dear Casey," she mocked "If you can take down a mindless beast of a Bug, why not your loving Fleur-sister?"

In a moment's notice, Calypso charged at Hydrangea. Every move she made from there was a literal blur. Yet, the tall brunette was able to dodge with casual shifts. Even when she would flip in order to dodge, the fluttery way she did it clearly showed that she was only doing it for show. She was like a mischievous fairy.

Calypso stopped, panting heavily as beads of sweat rolled down her body, which had returned to a fighting position.

"You've made a foolish mistake, young Casey," Hydrangea noted as she slowly waltzed around Calypso "You wasted energy using your super speed all at once and without thought," she then laughed again "Did you really think you could catch me off-guard?"

Hydrangea summoned Bianca's pyro whip. Then suddenly, her figure became a blur, no, a  _whirlwind_  around Calypso's figure.

Every so often, the crack of the whip would emanate from the blur, and Calypso would be knocked one way in time with the crack. The frequency of the hits increased, and the Asian Fleur's figure started losing its steadiness as she was tossed around like a rag doll.

" _Is this really okay? Bianca and Aurora really aren't holding back_ ," Phoenix worried, his hands clutching the golden ropes.

Suddenly, Hydrangea returned to normal speed and stopped behind Calypso, who was wobbling in place, dizzy and out of breath. Before she could steady herself, Hydrangea supplanted her whip with Aurora's star spear, and struck Calypso in the back.

"Calypso!" Phoenix cried out as the pink Fleur skid across the checkered floor. A trail of pink Alstroemeria petals followed behind her.

Phoenix leaped over into the arena and bounded towards her figure. She was sluggishly trying to push herself up. All the while, Hydrangea sauntered over towards Calypso, grinning down at her.

"Looks like I've won."

Calypso turned on her back, looking up at the brunette as she tried to get up. Fresh bruises blossomed on her skin. There were tears on her clothes where pink petals flowed from her broken skin.

"You know, I look at you now and I think to myself…" Hydrangea mused "I, alone, am more efficient than the Fleur Girls."

Calypso glared up at the taller woman.

"You're a reasonable woman, Casey. You know I'm right," coaxed Hydrangea "Phoenix only needs me."

She raised her spear high above Calypso, but the blade only hit a golden barrier.

Calypso had opened her eyes to find Phoenix standing above her, a golden forcefield enclosing them.

"You're wrong!" Phoenix barked.

For the first time, Hydrangea's smug grin evaporated from her face. Her brown eyes widened as she stared down at the young man "Wha—Phoenix?"

"You're wrong!" he repeated "I don't need you, Hydrangea."

The fasciation stammered incredulously "B-But how? I'm what's best for you, Phoenix! I'm what Nari would most want for you."

"You may be the most efficient, but you're  _not_  what's best for me."

Hydrangea recoiled at Phoenix's words, her face twisting in anger and confusion.

"Just because you can get a job done doesn't mean you are fit to care for me," stated Phoenix "Look at what you've done!" he gestured to Calypso "If you'd do this to someone you consider a sister, how can I trust that you won't do the same to me? How can I trust that you won't see me as "obsolete" one day, and just throw me aside?"

Hydrangea's eyes moistened, her lips stretching into a disturbed frown "But-But, no…Phoenix, I could never…I'm what's best for you. I'm what Nari would want. I'm…I'm…I'm…"

The brunette's figure trembled and twitched as blotches of teal flashed over her body.

Phoenix watched in horror as the fasciation's body became distorted like static on a television screen. Eventually, the teal overcame her body, and she shrank down. The teal mass then divided into two blue and orange forms.

Bianca gasped for air, reduced to her hands and knees. Aurora groaned in exhaustion, lying on her side "Where's Calypso?"

The force field dissolved, though Phoenix wasn't completely sure it was safe to do so "Uh…are you two—"

"Calypso!" Both women jumped up once they caught sight of the younger Fleur.

They brushed past Phoenix and embraced Calypso in their arms.

"Are you okay?! We're so sorry!"

"Tell us where you're hurt! No, we'll figure it out. We'll fix you up, okay?"

"We have no idea what happened!"

"We're sorry! We should have listened to you!"

Calypso murmured "It's okay, you two. I knew you didn't mean it."

Aurora and Bianca looked at one another in relief.

"Of course, you do realize that I expect you to pay me back for the hell you gave me," Calypso then stated in a completely normal tone.

"Strawberry shortcake?"

"Yes."

"With the chocolate drizzle?"

"Yes."

Phoenix looked at the three Fleurs, and gave a sigh of relief.


	10. Phoenix the Swordsman (pt. 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna start dividing chapters so it's not so overwhelming to read. At first, I just modeled every chapter after one single episode of Steven Universe. Who knew a ten minute episode would equate to a…ten page chapter. Oh, well, I should've seen that coming.

August 12, 2092

"Come on, Harper! Catch me!"

At the sound of his name, the rose-haired child's breath hitched in an attempt to catch up with the other boy dashing far before him. Regardless of his attempts, the little boy's feet stuttered to a stop as his hands and knees fell into the grass below him. His throat grew dry and a copper taste crept across his tongue as he panted and coughed.

Footsteps approached him from upfront, tentative and concerned. Soon, a small pair of black sneakers settled before him.

The boy wearing the shoes cocked his head to the side, his raven black hair shifting over his face "What's the matter?" he asked.

Still trying to catch his breath, Harper lifted his head "You run too fast!" he gasped, more surprised than angry.

The oblivious expression on the raven-haired boy's remained "But you're it. I'm supposed to run away from you," he said "Did you change the rules again?"

"No! I've been trying to tag you forever, Phoenix!" stubbornly argued Harper "Aren't you tired yet?"

"No, I'm…" Phoenix paused as a thought swam into his mind.

Ever since they started playing, Phoenix had been able to catch Harper and tag him within seconds, whereas Harper would chase him around for nearly forty minutes. While Harper would be left breathless and exhausted during their chase, Phoenix's heart only beat slightly faster as if he had only just taken a walk up a flight of stairs.

"Sorry," the boy said, though unsure of what he was apologizing for.

Harper stood up, his panting having calm down to a husky breath "It's okay, bro. You're just better than me," he complimented.

Phoenix pressed his lips into an uneasy line, hesitating to respond "Hey, do you want to play something else?"

"Sure!" complied Harper, relief in his chipper eyes "Something inside please. Like video games."

* * *

Phoenix flopped face first onto his bed with an ungraceful grunt, the springs squeaking in greeting. His cat was startled by the noise and shot an irritated glare his way, but remained on the bed anyway, used to his owner's antics.

An easy sigh slipped past Phoenix's lips as he closed his eyes "I finally made it home…"

The rest of his statement remained mental, his body too tired to make him speak " _And if I hear someone call my name one more time_ …"

" _New message from: Harper Bishara!_ "

The young man groaned. It wasn't the sound of his name being called, but it was close enough. Nonetheless, Phoenix lifted his wrist up to his face and tapped the message open.

 **Harper:**   _Hey man I'm off work today! Make up some plans because I'm coming to the treehouse right now_.

The man turned onto his back to type his response with his other hand.

 **Harper:**   _Hey man I'm off work today! Make up some plans because I'm coming to the treehouse right now_.

 **Phoenix:**   _Those "plans" are going to involve something indoors like video games or a movie_.

 **Harper:**   _What else would I expect from a homebody like yourself?_

 **Phoenix:**   _Huh? I'm not a homebody_.

 **Harper:**   _Keep telling yourself that. :)_

The raven-haired male couldn't help but smile. He could practically hear the snark in Harper's voice just from looking at the words.

Before Phoenix could respond to the message, there was a knock on the front door. The exhaustion in Phoenix's body immediately told him to ignore it, dismissing it as the mailman or advertiser, but then his Clove rang again.

 **Harper:**   _Open the door!_

At the sight of the message, Phoenix sprung up from his bed and descended downstairs. He nearly tripped on the rug when he approached the door. As expected, when he opened the door, the pink-haired man stood on his front porch.

"Thank you," Harper crowed as Phoenix allowed him to step inside the house.

Harper's green eyes roamed around the home with every intrigued stride he took "Huh…" he hummed in thought "I'm guessing the Fleur Girls didn't bring much with them when they moved in?"

Phoenix closed the door. It took a moment before he understood Harper's question.

"They're not physically living in the treehouse," he explained "Their rooms are…" he paused again, looking at the Telepad on the far side of the home "Actually, I don't know. Their rooms are, like, on another plane, or pocket dimension."

"What?" questioned Harper.

Phoenix shook his head "They didn't really explain it to me. I'll have to ask them when I see them again…" he then grumbled "Which I hope won't be soon."

Harper looked at the other male in surprise "Whoa, that's kinda harsh, don't you think? Especially coming from you."

"That's not what I meant," corrected Phoenix as he ran a hand through his black hair "There's been a lot of Bug monsters lately, and every time I see one of the Fleur Girls, it's because one of them wants to bring me along to help."

"But they have superpowers," countered Harper "And didn't you tell me that so far, you didn't have any powers other than your forcefield?"

Phoenix briefly flicked his eyes off to the side in annoyance "That's exactly why they're putting me out on the field," he said "They figured that now that I have a defense mechanism, it's safe enough for me to go out and fight  _small_  monsters on my own, as along as I bring my bat."

Harper's eyes widened in amusement "Really? How is it?" he entreated.

Phoenix's response contrasted greatly in mood "Grueling!" he snorted "I'm all for adventures and exploration, but I haven't had a good night's sleep in days. Just when I think it's safe to rest, someone's telling me to go to another planet and kill a Bug."

Seeing the full extent of the raven-haired male's displeasure, the light in Harper's eyes dimmed "Oh man, that's rough," he sympathized "And you still haven't found your actual weapon yet?"

"Well, there are weapons in the temple," said Phoenix "But as for a weapon that actually belongs to me, something I can actually summon at my own will at any time? Nothing."

Again, the pink-haired male shared Phoenix's disappointment, but it didn't last too long.

"Hey, why don't I help you on the missions?"

The pale man gave a baffled expression "What?" he chuckled.

However, Harper was serious "Yeah man, I could buy a fire axe or something. In the meantime, I could run back to the house real quick and grab my shovel."

"Harper, you can't come on these missions with me. It's way too dangerous," Phoenix protested.

"Pfft, no offense Phoenix, but if a cat-loving homebody like you could fight off these Bugs, I'm sure I could learn a few tricks," scoffed Harper.

Again, Phoenix contrasted his friend's lighthearted statement "It's different, Harper. I'm half-Fleur. A human like you could get seriously hurt."

Regardless, that didn't dampen the other man's mood "Alone I would, yeah. But neither of us will be alone. We'll have each other, and our combined strength will match up to any Fleur," Harper explained as though it were a science.

Phoenix gave the rose-haired male an unsure look "How can you sound so certain?" he asked in a somewhat timid voice.

Harper flashed a stellar smile "I trust my gut."

Despite the serious topic, that one sentence made Phoenix want to laugh. Harper always used that phrase whenever he was being doubted. After all these years, it had grown to sound silly to Phoenix's ears .

"Hey, speaking of Fleur-related stuff, could you show me one of those pocket dimension rooms you were talking about?"

Phoenix looked over at the Telepad in contemplation "I…well if we stay out of the Fleur Girls' actual bedrooms, I'm sure it would be fine," he thought aloud, rubbing his chin in thought "Okay, sure. These pocket dimensions are one of the only "Fleur-related" things that won't actually hurt you." The raven-haired man winced as he was suddenly struck with the memory of his first encounter in Bianca's room and how he scorched his bare feet on the hot hardwood floor "Except maybe Bianca's room," he added.

Phoenix led Harper onto the Telepad. The rose-haired male grinned in excitement as the two dispersed into lily petals.

* * *

"Oh…my god…"

Harper's mouth was agape in childlike wonder as he looked around himself, hardly paying attention to where his feet would land in the yellow grass.

"This is your room?" he gasped.

Phoenix shrugged "Sorta. It's my mother's room, but I guess I…inherited it?"

Not long after making that statement, Phoenix noticed an unfamiliar noise amongst the careless sound of the soft wind. Though, he didn't feel like it would be appropriate to call it noise. It was more like a voice.

"Yo, guys! Over here!"

Both men turned around at the sudden exclamation from the distance.

Phoenix blinked as he recognized the hill from which he heard the sound. It was the same hill that bore the golden tree and the plush bed. It was the exact same hill from which he got closer to his mother, except now, Aurora and Bianca stood on it.

Harper stepped up and snickered "Two beautiful women in your room, Phoenix? Pretty impressive."

The rose-haired male chuckled when Phoenix silently flicked him square in the forehead.

The two men then made their way over to the hill, their pace slowed down by the long golden blades of grass tangling around their ankles.

As they got closer, Phoenix noticed that Bianca was holding a large golden object in her arms. When he realized what it was, he could feel his chest tighten.

It was the golden scabbard Bianca had been clutching on the day she mourned Nari. Seeing the brunette now with a grin on her face seemed almost unreal.

"What are you guys doing in here?" asked Phoenix.

"Trying to find your real weapon," explained Bianca as the two men trekked up the hill "You can't keep using those dingy baseball bats."

Aurora, who had been reaching underneath the lush bed, looked over her shoulder "We would have given you a weapon from the temple, but you can't lug them around everywhere. And most of them would take a lot of training to use."

"How do you know one of those weapons weren't Na—uh, Mom's?" queried Phoenix.

"We couldn't feel any magic from them," explained Bianca.

"Feel magic?" echoed Phoenix.

"It's like what you showed us in those Japanese books, Phoenix; we're magical girls," began Bianca "That means our weapons are magic, too. Since they come from our bodies, we can feel the magic from a Fleur weapon," she got a better grip on the scabbard in her arms "When I found Nari's scabbard in the temple, I could feel traces of magic on it. So we figured the sword stuck here might be her weapon."

Harper turned his attention to the large sword poking out of the ground "So is it?" he asked.

"You bet, Harlem," confirmed Bianca.

"Harper."

"Harper, my bad."

Phoenix also turned his attention to the sword "It was here all this time?!" he sighed in a combination of relief and disbelief.

"Yeah, but it looks like we can't use it because we can't get it out of the ground," said Aurora as she pulled a shield from beneath the bed. It was silver with a large yellow gem encasing the surface of the shield, making it resemble a giant ring.

The curly-haired woman sighed as she stood up and approached the young men with the shield "At least it came with a shield. This one's magic, too."

Phoenix took hold of the shield, looping his arm into the harness. It fit snugly on his arm like a glove, as if he had worn it a million times before.

"But he already has a forcefield," griped Bianca "He needs Nari's sword so he can fight back."

"Bianca, if we can't lift that thing, what makes you think Phoenix can—"

Just as Aurora was making her argument, her words halted at the sight of Phoenix curiously picking up the golden blade from the ground with his free hand. The raven-haired man stared wide-eyed like a deer in headlights. He had only tugged the handle to see just how far in the ground the blade was. It stuck out at least two feet from the ground, after all. He hadn't expected the entire sword to effortlessly emerge from the ground.

Bianca gasped loudly as Aurora stared in awe.

Harper patted the other male's back "Alright Phoenix!" he cheered.

"H-How are you doing that?!" stammered Aurora.

The raven-haired male, who was just as surprised at the object in his hand, fumbled "I-I have no idea; I was just messing with the handle and then…" He couldn't believe it. The sword was at at least four feet long, yet the mass did not match the weight in his hand.

"Let me see," said Harper.

Phoenix moved the sword handle over to his friend's awaiting hands, but before he could even completely separate his own hand of the handle, the rose-haired man sank under the blade's weight. With a gasp, Phoenix took hold of the sword again before Harper could fall completely to the ground.

"Hot damn, I guess it is yours, buddy!" declared Bianca "Which means this is yours, too."

Despite both of Phoenix's hands being full, the curvaceous brunette placed the large scabbard in his arms, showing blatant amusement in his struggle to keep any of the items from slipping out of his arms.

"How am I going to carry all of this with me all the time?" Phoenix asked, his voice slightly strained by the scabbard pushing against his throat.

Aurora held her chin in thought "Well, usually your weapons are created in your Fleur Bud while you're still young, but because you're…" The rest of Aurora's sentence were supplanted by the awkward rotation of her hand. She then cleared her throat "We'll figure it out. Right now, we should probably start teaching you sword fighting in the arena."

"You guys have an arena?" Harper gasped in wonder.

"You guys know how to sword fight?" asked Phoenix.

In the end, only Phoenix's question warranted any attention.

"No, but Aurora knows a thing or two since her weapon's a spear," stated Bianca.

Aurora's modest chest puffed out in pride "I'll teach you everything I know."

Bianca scoffed "Which ain't much."

Aurora frowned at the other.

* * *

Harper's reaction to the arena was just as animated as it was when he saw the golden fields of Phoenix's room.

"Is this another pocket dimension, too?" questioned the rose-haired man.

Aurora lifted her brows in bemusement "Pocket dimension? Nari just used a spell."

"Fleurs can cast spells?" Phoenix blurted out.

The slender woman snickered at the juvenile question "No, Nari just had a lot of spell books. Anyone could cast them if they practiced as much as she did," she explained "She never taught us, though. So we can't cast them."

At this moment, Phoenix noticed something "Wasn't Bianca just with us on the Telepad?" he asked.

It took Aurora a few seconds before she realized the absence of the brunette "Where the hell did she go?" she mused, crossing her thin arms in slight annoyance "Oh well, it's supposed to be me who's teaching you, anyway."

The slender woman hummed in thought as she studied the sword in Phoenix's hands "I'm wondering if we should use a practice sword first."

"Ah, I'm sure Phoenix can handle his own sword," declared Harper with a reassuring wave "I mean, he's able to hold it when none of us can."

"I know, but I just wanna get the basics down first," Aurora noted the slight disappointment in Phoenix's features almost immediately after she said that.

"Let's just try the practice sword for a few minutes," she declared "Then we'll move straight to Nari's sword, okay?"

Phoenix nodded "Alright," he said "Better safe than sorry."

"Harper, could you get the silver sword on the top shelf over there?" Aurora requested, pointing to somewhere behind the two men.

"Okay," agreed the rose-haired male as he turned to retrieve the object.

Once he got it, he came back and handed it to Phoenix in exchange for the much larger sword, which immediately dragged him down to the floor once again.

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot!" Phoenix apologized, swiping the sword away with one hand "I'll just put it off to the side, myself."

Harper flashed an exhausted thumbs-up and picked himself up to go rest on one of the many beds.

Phoenix set aside the golden sword and returned in front of Aurora with a nod.

"Okay, first, let's get the stance down," the curly-haired woman said as she positioned herself.

"See how I'm standing?…Yeah, hang on, let me come over there and…move your shoulders this way…shift your hips like this and…there. Now, hold your sword up like this…tilt it more forward. There you go. See where the blade crosses my spear? This is the best way to block off your opponent. Now we're gonna walk, okay? Watch my feet for this… Keep your center of gravity between your feet…"

Harper watched with sleepy eyes as the woman tutored her friend. With Phoenix only silently listening and obliging to the instructions, Aurora's voice served as the only source of sound in the arena. With the distance between himself and the actual battle ring, her voice sounded like a quiet whisper. Harper tried to stay awake as to not miss any potential action, but within fifteen minutes of Phoenix's lesson, he had fallen asleep.

"Hey, you're doing pretty good!" Aurora admired.

Phoenix's pale skin flushed a light pink as he muttered a timid thanks.

Suddenly, the whirring of the Telepad diverted the focus in the room.

Bianca as she materialized on the device "Hey guys, what'd I miss?" she casually asked.

There was a pink bubble in her hand with something floating inside. Bianca held her other hand over the bubble so that Aurora and Phoenix could only vaguely see what was inside.

Aurora frowned "Bianca, what are you holding?" she asked in a cautious tone.

Still smiling, the brunette stepped off of the Telepad "Just a little something to spice up Phoenix's lessons," she said as she stepped over the arena's ropes and walked towards the two.

It was only when she was standing right in between Phoenix and Aurora that she swirled her finger over the top pf the bubble and released what ever was inside.

Phoenix watched curiously as what appeared to be a peach pit clattered onto the floor and began to release smoke "What's this?" he asked.

Aurora, on the other hand, had a very different reaction "Shit, it's a bad seed," she grunted, clutching her spear in its direction "Phoenix, get back!"

Bianca laughed " _Relax_ , Aurora. It's just a tiny Weed. Even Phoenix could take this sucker down."

"Is that why you brought it out here?" questioned Aurora "Are you out of your damn mind?"

Out of the smoke emerged a leafy creature. It had several small roots that acted as legs, and a single yellow eye poking out of its leafy head.

"It doesn't look that bad…" Phoenix said in an unsure tone.

The monsters he had been sent to fight were no bigger than a toy poodle. Although still small, this Weed was at least three times the size of the monsters Phoenix had faced.

Bianca patted his back in encouragement "That's the spirit, buddy. Now just do whatever Aurora taught you and I'll recapture it."

While the redhead seemed rather gleeful by her actions, the other woman seemed to be anything but.

"Bianca, you know we're not supposed to let any monsters free!" Aurora scolded "Especially for something like this."

Bianca gave a casual shrug "Hey, you know what Nari said; if you wanna grow, you gotta be willing to get in some rocky soil."

"Nari never said that."

"Well I'm sure someone did," Bianca then gave Phoenix an encouraging gaze "Don't worry. If this little guy's too much for you-which I doubt-I can take him out and bring you back a smaller one."

"No you won't!" argued Aurora.

Though, when the Weed gave a small leap in Phoenix's direction, the young man already positioned his sword to combat it just by reflex.

Bianca grinned in pride and stepped to the side "Have fun!"

The Weed gave a juvenile growl and leaped towards Phoenix again, this time, higher.

Phoenix gave an uneasy "Whoa-ho-okay there…!" as he knocked the Weed out of his way with the blade of the sword. The small creature tumbled to the side, eventually landing on its back. It struggled to get back onto its feet, but like a turtle that has been knocked onto its shell, the creature made no progress.

"See, you're doing great," reassured Bianca.

At this moment, Harper had woken up from his nap, the first scene he laid his eyes on being Phoenix towering over some kind of writhing creature "…the hell's going on?" he slurred.

Aurora walked over to congratulate the raven-haired male "Wow Phoenix, you handled that better than I thought," she admired, her eyes still lingering on the fallen beast "But we should probably put the Weed away."

"Oh come on, Aurora. You guys have been sending me out to handle monsters for the past few days," cajoled Phoenix "This one doesn't even have pincers or fangs."

"This is different, though," explained Aurora "You know how to use a bat, but Nari's sword and swords in general are completely new territory. You need more than just fifteen minutes of practice before you go fighting with them."

Phoenix glanced down at the sword in his hands. He had felt a sense of confidence when he had knocked down the Weed moments ago. It still lingered in his chest.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I kinda agree with Bianca's idea," he balked.

Even the brunette's jaw dropped upon hearing this.

"Maybe I can handle more challenging lessons," Phoenix continued, his statement sounding more like a question towards the end.

"But I don't want you to get hurt-" Aurora's words ended on a choke.

The moment passed so fast. The only indication that it had happened was the gut-wrenching squelch sound that echoed in the spacious room around them.

A thorn was jutting out from Aurora's chest, tearing straight through the fabric of her crop top. Behind her, the tiny Weed monster's eye opened up to eject a black thorn right into Aurora's back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Initially, I wanted Harper to consider cheering "Yass, Phoenix, slay! Fuck it up!" when Phoenix was practicing his sword fighting (based on a Tumblr post that said that's how you react when you see your artist friend quietly drawing). Even though this is probably something Harper would do, I had to keep in mind that this is set in the year 2110, and he's probably never even heard of those phrases in his entire life. Also, I'm trying to abstain from using strong language. A lot of people see that as a cheap way to appeal to mature audiences.


	11. Phoenix the Swordsman (pt. 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure some of you noticed a huge change in the story: It's no longer a Game Grumps fan fiction. That's right, I changed the names of the characters and gave everyone diverse ethnicities because representation dawg. B) Everything else is exactly the same, personalities and all. So there's no need to reread anything.
> 
> Of course, though, here's a quick rundown:
> 
> Sam is now a Korean man named Phoenix Magnolia Hall.
> 
> Harper is now a Middle Eastern man named Harper Bishara.
> 
> Suzy is now a Korean woman named Nari Magnolia.
> 
> Arin is now a man named Terry Hall.
> 
> Erin is now a Latina woman named Bianca (and no longer has any familial relationships with "Sam" or "Arin").
> 
> Dani is now a black woman named Aurora.
> 
> Marceline is now a Thai woman named Calypso (and has fighting fans instead of brass knuckles, making Poppy's weapon a grappling hook).
> 
> MatPat is now named Simon and Kevanna is named Malaya.

The scrawny sword dropped from Phoenix's hands with a clatter. Blue blood had splattered from Aurora's chest and onto Phoenix's clothes, where they solidified into Delphinium petals.

The woman looked down at her chest in both pain and surprise, blue petals falling past her lips "I-I...Phoenix, don't panic. It's just-"

Again, Aurora was interrupted. Her body fell apart into dry petals at Phoenix's feet.

The young man, still horrified, knelt down to try to capture the woman in his arms, but only succeeded in scooping up a pile of her remains. He hadn't even noticed Harper had run up to him in equal panic and concern.

The rose-haired man could just barely choke out the words "Oh god...no...god please don't tell me…"

Tears streamed out of Phoenix's eyes faster than he could wipe them away. He whimpered unintelligible fragments of speech as he helplessly picked up the petals. Harper, too, began to cry as he covered his eyes.

Bianca walked over to the two with a sigh "Guys, she's not dead," she drawled.

Both men looked up in confusion and Bianca knelt down to pick up something from the heap of petals: an indigo Fleur Bud.

"This is totally normal," she explained as she held the object "When we get seriously hurt, we revert back to our Bud to heal. Remember, Phoenix?" she waved the Fleur Bud in the young man's face "Also, I suggest you two wash your hands after this since all those petals you just touched are Fleur waste."

Both men carefully stepped away from the pile and stood back up.

"Oh…you mean the Fleur Bud from that one planet…?" hiccuped Phoenix.

"Yeah, Buddy. It's like that," confirmed Bianca "I don't blame you for freaking out, though. This is probably your first time seeing the whole "turn into potpourri" part of it."

Harper, who had never been informed of this, was still visibly shaken "She'll be okay?"

"Of course! With Aurora's clumsy ass, this happens all the time," snarked Bianca "She should regenerate in a few hours or so."

A beeping then rose from the brunette's chest.

With her unoccupied hand, she reached into her shirt and pulled out an orange device similar to a cellphone in appearance.

"Sup Calypso?…She got totaled by a Weed…Yeah…yeah it was funny…Oh, you need me?…Yeah, no problem, Phoenix and Harper can take care of her."

"Wait what?!"

"Us?!"

Much like an irritated mother, Bianca briefly frowned at the two men with her finger pressed against her plump lips before she returned to her conversation "Yeah, I'll be right there…love you, sis!"

The brunette then tucked away the device in her pocket, saying "I should make you two transceivers, too," as she tossed Aurora's Fleur Bud towards the two men.

Phoenix scrambled to catch the blue object, him being closer to Bianca "H-Hey, you're not really going to leave Aurora with us, are you?"

"Of course I am," Bianca casually remarked, pausing her walk towards the Telepad to answer the man "I'll be back in a minute. Don't worry."

"Wait!" Phoenix called out as Bianca hurried to the Telepad, who disappeared upon impact.

Harper cautiously walked up to Phoenix, who was awestruck by the situation.

"Hey, you heard what Bianca said. We don't have to worry," the rose-haired male said, patting Phoenix's shoulder "It's not like we're petsitting or babysitting."

"Yeah…" Phoenix breathed "All we have to do is hold onto Aurora until she comes back."

"You could just put in her your pocket and chill at home!" laughed Harper "The perfect chore for a homebody."

Phoenix smirked in an uncharacteristically challenging manner "You're still stuck on the idea of me being a homebody?"

"Well, you are one," simply stated Harper "Nothing wrong with that."

Regardless, a spark had been ignited in Phoenix. However small it was, it refused to be put out.

"Y'know Harper, you're right. I always stay inside reading magical girl manga," admitted the raven-haired male "But now I have the chance to actually go on those adventures."

Harper studied his companion for a moment, a devious smile forming on his lips as intrigued sparked in his green eyes "What are you saying?"

Phoenix led the rose-haired male towards the Telepad Bianca had just gone through "I've been traveling the universe for the past two days," he said "A lot of them had some interesting things I wanted to check out."

Harper quirked a brow "Would any of them include some alluring alien women?"

Phoenix rolled his eyes "Open you eyes a bit," he muttered.

"Kidding, kidding!" reassured Harper as he stepped onto the Telepad "Lead the way, man."

There was an awkward pause in which Phoenix tried to think of a specific destination.

Harper, although recognizing the concentration on his friend's face, couldn't help but carefully eye him "Uh…is it working?"

"Yeah, I'm just trying to decide where to go," Phoenix explained, rubbing his temples "I've been to so many places already I…oh!" he said, suddenly snapping his fingers "I've got it!"

"Wha—" before Harper could question Phoenix's thinking, the two had dispersed into lily petals.

Instead, the rose-haired man's words ended in a gasp. Phoenix was impressed. This was the first time in his friendship with Harper he could honestly say he saw the man stunned to silence.

The pink-haired man stepped off of the Telepad and then quickly clamped his hands over his agape mouth. He turned around to face Phoenix "How are we breathing right now?"

"The girls were only able to put Telepads on planets with breathable air," explained Phoenix.

"But there's no air in space!" gasped Harper.

Phoenix shrugged, stepping off of the Telepad "I thought so, too, but apparently that only applies to our galaxy—or was it our universe? Uh, anyway, we're on the twelfth moon of Aragon, which is outside of both…probably."

Harper's eyes widened like a child in an amusement park as he took in the sight around him. Mysterious remains of what appeared to be machines and structures at some point littered the area. Wispy thin clouds glided across the murky orange sky.

"Holy shit, you're right!" he laughed "This is like some lost civilization or something…right?"

"Right," Phoenix puffed out his chest in pride "I've actually seen a lot of planets that have scraps like this," he gloated "It's pretty fun to think of what could have been here all these years ago."

Phoenix and Harper strolled around the moon looking at various objects they found. Occasionally, Harper would ask Phoenix about his other adventures with the Fleur Girls and about the new lifestyle that he was leading. There was so much to tell. Phoenix hadn't even finished answering Harper's third question about his life when the two paused to rest their tired feet. It didn't occur to Phoenix just how much he had been through until he felt his tongue grow dry from talking for so long.

"Why didn't you tell me about all of this cool stuff that happened?" asked Harper as they started walking around again.

Phoenix shrugged "I don't know. I guess I was too caught up to really tell you everything," he said "The only time I got to talk to you about this was when we were stuck in that forcefield."

Harper gave a weak laugh "Yeah, I can understand."

There was a pregnant pause after Harper's insecure response. Phoenix had noticed a gradual shift in mood during their exploration, but hadn't commented about it.

"Hey, uh, Phoenix, how many people did you tell about the Fleur Girls?"

Phoenix thought it was an odd question, but regardless, answered "Just you, Malaya, and Sidney. Dad knows too."

Harper nodded "Good, good…" he murmured "I told Malaya and Sidney that we should just keep it between us four."

"Huh? Why?" asked Phoenix.

"I just…I think it's safer that way," balked Harper.

"What do you mean safe—"

"Holy…!"

Phoenix bumped into Harper, who had stopped dead in his tracks "What? What's the matter?"

Harper kept his head fixated on what ever had startled him "It's…it's an eye!" Harper stammered, pushing on Phoenix's chest as if he would disappear at any minute.

"What?"

"There's an eye in the ground! Look!"

Phoenix cautiously looked over his friend's shoulder. Even though he had just been told what to expect, that didn't make the shock any less potent.

Poking out from the reddish sand was a large pupil rimmed with a denim blue iris. The eye, itself, though, was an unnatural shade of shamrock green. The pupil was at least a foot in diameter.

"Harper, I…don't think it's real."

"What?"

"I mean, look at it. It's green and…and just huge."

"We're on another planet, Phoenix. It could be an alien eye!"

Phoenix opened his mouth to argue, but couldn't find any words.

Harper was right. With all the things Phoenix had seen, he almost couldn't believe that he was applying normal, everyday logic to a situation that was nowhere near that realm.

Harper stepped back a few feet "H-Hey, this was fun and all, Phoenix, but I think we should really get back to Earth."

The moment the rose-haired man finished his statement, the eye's pupil dilated with the sound of circuits awakening.

The two men watched in awe as the eye rose from the ground and hovered into the air. Though, it was clear that the eye was anything but organic. Nothing was attached to the eye except for a single green optic nerve. The veins were glowing circuits that pulsated with each surge of electricity. The pupil studied its surroundings like the lens of a camera.

"Ph-Phoenix…what is that?" Harper shuddered.

"I don't know…" Phoenix replied in the same manner.

Both men were frozen in place, afraid of the eye's response to movement. Like a wild animal, they didn't want to risk triggering a chase by running away from it.

Then, the eye spoke, its female voice just as rigid and mechanical as its appearance " _Humans detected_."

The two men cried out and leaped in different directions as a laser shot out of the eye's pupil. Neither had time to fully experience their shock nor look to the other to question what had happened. They both knew that they only had time to run.

"Where's the tele…!? Tele…!? The teleporter thing!" Harper huffed in a panic.

Phoenix quickly spotted the device in the distance "This way!" he shouted as he dashed towards it.

The two males clambered onto the Telepad, Phoenix frantically chanting "Home, home, home, home!" even as the Telepad began to hum below them.

When the atmosphere around them changed into something familiar, the two carefully studied the arena around them.

"It's over, right?" Harper shakily asked.

Phoenix lifted his head "Yeah," he said "We're back home."

" _System scan for viruses_ …"

Both males jerked their heads up at the sound of the voice. To their horror, the eyeball floated above them, its iris pressed into a sleepy line.

They flung themselves away from the Telepad in fear, tumbling hard onto the floor and scrambling to get to their feet.

"Phoenix, man, what do we do?!"

"I don't know! It's taking up the only way out of here!"

"What?! There's no doors here? What about these windows?"

"It's a pocket dimension, Harper! It doesn't work that way—!"

The eye jerked suddenly, its iris returning to its alert circular shape.

" _Humans detected_."

The two males jumped to run when the laser began tracking them down. Unlike the open space of the moon, Phoenix and Harper didn't have much room to run. Even when they went in separate directions, the laser would switch between them while staying hot on their tails. The laser left a constant black trail behind it as it scorched everything in its path. Two of the shelves collapsed as they were sliced. Once of the beds spilled its soft contents all over itself.

In his haste, Phoenix tripped on one of the swords that had dropped onto the floor. It was his golden sword.

Without a moment's hesitation, he took hold of it and began to climb up to his feet. He stumbled with a shout, however, when the laser grazed his shoulder.

The young man hurried to swat at the eyeball with his sword. The eye dodged and lunged for him again. Sam continued to swing his blade at it and dodge its lasers in return. He ended up stepping backwards in his attempt to fight, leaving him with a sense of helplessness.

"Gah!"

A loud grunt came from behind the eyeball as it tumbled to the ground. Harper stood behind it with Nari's golden shield on his arm. His chest heaved from the exertion of energy.

He looked up at Phoenix and asked "Are you okay?" between breaths.

"I-" before the other man could speak, the eyeball began to move again.

Panicked, both males hurried to ready themselves. When it moved in Phoenix's direction, he would swing at it with the sword. When it moved in Harper's direction, he would bash it with the shield. Each time the eye would seek an opening for escape, one of the two men would take their own turn attacking it. Eventually, the eye was reduced to a crumpled heap of green and indigo metal with electric sparks flying out.

Phoenix and Harper kept their gazes on it, though. Shaky breaths escaped the both of them as they waited for any sign of life.

The two jumped when another sound hit their ears. They readied their weapons again, but quickly realized that there was no need.

Phoenix's pocket glowed a bright blue against the grey fabric. The men watched as the Fleur Bud gently floated out of his pocket and into the space between them. A large, transparent flower bloomed around the Bud, closing its petals tightly around itself. The petals then swirled open, releasing the figure of a woman: Aurora.

The curly-haired woman gave a tired sigh and placed a hand on her chest where her fatal wound once was "Oh thank _Flora_ …" she said.

"A-Aurora…?"

The two men looked in both shock and amazement at the woman's metamorphosis.

Aurora regarded Phoenix curiously when he stammered her name. His eyes were glassy and his hair was ruffled with stress. Regardless, he cracked a smile and embraced her, catching her by surprise.

"Ah-h? Phoenix?"

Harper's reaction caught her more by surprise "You're okay! You're back!" the rose-haired male cheered as he embraced her from the other side, thoroughly sandwiching the woman.

"Of course I am! Hey, calm down a bit. Give me some space to breathe! Harper, don't cry!"

In that moment, Bianca returned through the Telepad "Hey guys, I'm ba—whoa!"

The Latina Fleur looked at all of the debris and disarray around her, eyes blown wide.

Aurora gasped as her attention was drawn to the mess, causing Harper and Phoenix to quickly withdraw from her.

"What did you guys do?!" she asked, looking between the three of them.

Bianca put her hands up "Hey, you can't blame me this time. I wasn't even here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though the SU series just started off without any backstory about how Steven grew up, I decided to give more backstory about how Phoenix lived with his (unknown) powers as a child. So expect to see more smol babby Phoenix and Harper adventures!
> 
> Also, I know it's pretty clear right now that Harper acts as the "Connie" to Phoenix's "Steven". And I know Connie is the sword wielder, but I thought it would be more fitting for Phoenix to have the sword since he is the rightful owner of it. Not only that, but Phoenix's Fleur half is what allows him to lift that thing in the first place. How Connie, a human child, can lift Rose's sword, I have no idea.


	12. Private Investigation

Bianca snickered mischievously, her copper eyes darting around.

"Hey, hey Phoenix, c'mere…" she whispered.

The male, halted his stride through the clothing aisles and turned around "Huh?"

Bianca beckoned Phoenix, who followed curiously.

"You wanna see a trick?" the Latina asked.

Phoenix only gave pensive "Uhh…" before Bianca proceeded.

The redhead grabbed one of the pink shirts hanging on the clothing rack before her. The Fleur Bud on her forehead glowed for a brief moment. Her own torso then began to glow a similar light, to which Phoenix gasped. The sound of fabric shifting reached his ears as the light was replaced with the pink T-shirt.

Phoenix's eyes widened as Bianca grinned. His gaze flickered between her and the shirt on the clothing rack.

"How did—? What did you—? Where did your—?" he pressed his hand to his forehead "This doesn't count as shoplifting, right?" he whispered.

Bianca laughed "Let's hope not," she then took the pink shirt off of the clothing rack "I mean, the original's still here so…"

"So you duplicated it?" finished Phoenix "How? Did you use some kind of device?"

"No, every Fleur can manipulate her clothes," explained Bianca "A Fleur can change her outfit into any piece of clothing she's touched before. Really comes in handy when you forget to bring a jacket."

"Could you teach me?" asked Phoenix.

"Heck yeah, Buddy. That's my job!" complied Bianca "Okay, first pick what you wanna wear—something you've worn before. Next, imagine yourself wearing it."

Phoenix closed his eyes as he followed the orange Fleur's instructions.

"Then you just…" As Bianca's sentence trailed off, he could hear the sound of clothing shifting again. However, it wasn't from him.

The Asian man opened his eyes to see Bianca's orange shirt had returned.

The Fleur, in return, studied Phoenix's unchanged appearance "You might not even have that power, now that I think about it."

At that, the male's expression dropped in disappointment.

* * *

" _During those few weeks, the Fleur Girls advised me to take a break from all of the adventures. Discovering my weapon, recruiting Harper, learning about fasciation, and fighting off monsters was a lot for me to handle—at least, that's what they said. They were worried that I would get stressed and overwhelmed. They'd probably be even more worried if they knew I had a panic attack. Luckily, Harper knows to keep things like that private._

 _After our run-in with the EyeCatch (the eyeball spybot), the Fleur Girls went straight to work investigating it, primarily Bianca since she's really talented with technology. Without them around the house, though, it got really lonely really fast. And I couldn't always hang out with my friends on account of their work schedules. So one day, when Bianca stopped by the treehouse, she saw how bored I was and offered to take me around town._ "

* * *

Phoenix and Bianca stepped through the forest with lightweight shopping bags in hand, their feet snapping and breaking small twigs that lie on the soft grass.

"See, ain't it better to just take a walk sometimes instead of driving?" Bianca said.

Phoenix gave a nod "I'm glad you told me to change into some more comfortable shoes."

His brow then furrowed as they approached the treehouse.

Aurora and Calypso stood outside with Nari's Laser Light Cannon. The taller of the two was kneeling beside the cannon to further inspect it while the other looked up to the sky with a colorful telescope.

Both Phoenix and Bianca replied in similar fashions.

"What are you guys…?"

"What's wrong with the cannon?"

Aurora turned and stood up with an antsy expression "We don't know," she said "We were waiting for you to come home so you could have a look at it."

The Latina took the place of the blue Fleur and squatted next to the cannon, setting aside the shopping bags.

Phoenix looked around awkwardly, his company feeling like it didn't belong in the scene. Aurora didn't seem to notice, her own worry taking root in her focus.

"So, uh…" Phoenix cleared his throat "Is there anything you want me to do?"

The black woman turned, as if suddenly becoming aware of the male's presence.

"Huh? Oh no, Phoenix, don't worry about this," Aurora waved off "You should take in your bags, though, so the bugs out here won't creep into them."

Bianca clapped her hands on her thick thighs "Starshine," she bluntly addressed.

All three young adults regarded the orange Fleur as she stood up.

"You forgot to charge the battery!" she scoffed.

Aurora's face changed to dumbfounded expression "I—what?"

"Told you…" Calypso muttered as she returned to gazing through her telescope.

"What'd you expect, Aurora? It's a Laser _Light_ Cannon!" declared Bianca as she motioned towards the device "It runs on solar energy, and it's been locked up for Flora knows how long!"

A stubborn blue flushed beneath the Fleur's brown cheeks as she ruffled her curly hair "Ah, well, that's why we took it out here in the first place. Right Calypso?"

"That's why _I_ told you to take it out here," corrected the pink Fleur.

Bianca gave Aurora a confident expression while the other returned with a sour glare.

"But don't expect it to start working after sunset," Calypso said, collapsing the telescope in her hands "We need at least one hundred twenty hours of sunlight to get enough charge to operate it again."

"That many?!" questioned Phoenix.

"A "hundred"?!" gasped Aurora.

Bianca was the only one who responded calmly "So about ten days if the weather stays nice."

Calypso nodded "In the mean time, it looks like we'll have to put our research on hold and fight the EyeCatches, ourselves."

"Hey, hey, we don't have to put _nothin_ ' on hold," Bianca waved her hands in front of her in a rejecting motion "Just leave the research to Big Bi."

"Are you sure?" questioned Calypso "That is a lot of work to handle on your own."

Bianca shrugged dismissively "Meh, don't worry about it. You've got Phoenix to help you, remember?"

Aurora and Calypso regarded the man in question, who, again, felt like his presence didn't fit into the scene.

Aurora gave a little smile "You and Harper did take good care of the first EyeCatch," she admitted with a tiny shrug "Do you think he could join us, too?"

Phoenix glanced over his shoulder in the direction from which he and Bianca came from "No, he's been working a lot lately."

Calypso, on the other hand, did not share the same eagerness as the blue Fleur "I thought we were going to give him some time to mentally recover," she muttered.

"Recover from what?" the words left Phoenix's lips before he could stop them "It's not like I'm…y'know, a trauma victim or anything."

The end of his statement was intertwined with an awkward chuckle. That discomfort traveled to the other two females as they gave their own unique expressions of unease.

Bianca, however, boldly stepped through that tension "Then you'd better stay on your toes, Buddy, cuz you don't know when these two are gonna call you."

Phoenix gave a determined nod, one that said " _I'm ready for the job_."

* * *

"… _The Fleur Girls didn't just hop around the universe in a blind search for the EyeCatches. They had a special radar hooked into their rooms connected to the temple that reported activity from the area around the Milky Way. If anything got too close to entering our galaxy, they would be notified. It turns out that that's how they found all of those Weed and Bug monsters_ …"

* * *

Phoenix dented the EyeCatch with a swift swipe of his sword. It propelled forwards like a baseball that had been struck with a bat. Its path tilted clumsily from its newfound weight shift.

One of Calypso's fans sliced through the bot with clean precision. Two halves fell to the ground with sparks of electricity snapping between them as they parted ways.

Aurora hurried to the severed pieces and held her palms above them.

Two indigo bubbles enclosed them both. As she stood up, they vanished.

With her hands placed on her bare hips, Aurora turned to Phoenix "I'm glad to see that you've been practicing what I taught you while I was gone."

A modest smile poured onto Phoenix's face. Again, Calypso seemed displeased, but this time, she stayed quiet and hid her expression behind the longer of her hair bangs.

"Well, with all the free time I've had, it only seemed right," admitted the man.

"You could have gone out with friends," suggested Calypso, still not looking up.

Phoenix sensed her contrast, and tried to keep the same positive attitude "But they're always at work or with family, y'know, and dad went back to work, so I'm…basically on my own."

The Thai woman looked up at Phoenix, and suddenly, her expression softened.

* * *

"… _I know that Calypso only wanted to make sure that I wasn't overworking myself, but having admitted that made me realize just how lonely I was sometimes. I didn't need a job, so I didn't have any coworkers to befriend. Dad was my only family, and I rarely even got to see him. Even living in the forest, I was separate from the town. It's funny how the things my inheritance got me also cut off my ties with the community. Sure, it would be easy for me to get involved in a club, but I'm not exactly the social butterfly that Harper is. I never was. Stepping out of my comfort zone always felt like pulling teeth. Yet, somehow, I still want to feel part of something. It's so confusing. I guess that's why I was so eager to join the Fleur Girls after I got the first taste of being a Fleur. I was finally included in something_ …"

* * *

"I'm here, guys. I just noticed the radar's…"

The man's words dangled from his lips as Calypso brushed past his chest with the briskness of a winter breeze.

The Thai woman hurried to Aurora. The two had small lights emitting from them that rapidly grew as they neared each other. The pink and blue lights exploded into a soft lilac orb.

Phoenix recognized the phenomenon immediately, but his eyes still widened in wonder.

" _They're fasciating?_ " he thought, briefly. His attention was, however, stolen quickly away by a mass mechanical sound.

Upon turning his gaze, he flinched.

A hoard of EyeCatches flowed through the air. They were slow and observant like sharks searching the waters for prey, but also jerky and curious like eager mosquitoes.

The sword shook in Phoenix's hands, though he didn't notice with his eyes fixated on the machinery before him. The most EyeCatches he and the Fleurs had faced was four, but in that moment, there had to be at least fifty.

Phoenix gasped as a gold encased him, only to sigh a breath of relief as he realized that it was only his forcefield. His fear had summoned it without his knowledge.

The EyeCatches noticed this and their menacing irises pointed in the man's direction. His eye lids pressed shut as he braced himself for impact, but a familiar slashing sound hit his eardrums. An even more familiar sound of the electric buzz emitted from a defeated EyeCatch also reached Phoenix.

The man opened his eyes. However, the woman he had set his sights upon didn't stay in a single spot for him to observe her.

Her axe swung around with mighty strength and a generous enough amount of precision to make every swing count. The few EyeCatches that dodged her attacks once were soon targeted and destroyed by the next strike.

She landed the final strike next to Phoenix's forcefield, causing the orb to tumble aside while the man struggled to return it to rest. Nonetheless, the Asian man end up on his backside with a groan.

The weight of two hands pressed against the surface of the forcefield sent a pulse downwards, alerting the man inside. Phoenix looked up at the extraordinarily tall woman and immediately noticed that her upper right hand held a purple Fleur Bud. Her skin was a firm beige from Aurora's soft brown skin and Calypso's olive shade. She was skinny, yet had defined muscles and long legs. Rivers of wavy black hair cascaded down her shoulders with evenly cut bangs respectively crowning her forehead. A soft lilac shirt was held up to the woman's neck by a red star pendant, revealing a purple Fleur Bud on her stomach. Ripped jeans pooled over purple sneakers, and black sleeves covered her biceps.

Her arms split into two at the elbow. Both of her right hands were touching the forcefield while the left hands held her axe. Upon further inspection, Phoenix could see that the familiar slashing he heard was the sound of Calypso's fans strapped onto Aurora's spear.

Phoenix quaked under the indistinguishable gaze behind the woman's thick purple sunglasses. The silence behind her straight pressed lips gave off an air of intimidation.

"Are you gonna come out of there?" she asked.

Phoenix swallowed. He knew that the woman was just a fasciation of his two companions, but the power she held in her sudden presence left him awestruck.

The yellow shield around him dissolved and he stood.

After a beat of silence, the woman pushed up her glasses to reveal a worried pair of eyes, much to Phoenix's surprise.

"Phoenix, are you hurt?" she asked in genuine concern "You haven't said anything."

The male shook his head "Just…surprised, is all," he said.

With that, the woman sighed through her nose "Good."

Purple light overcame her figure and she split into two bodies.

Aurora stretched her arms above her head as the remnants of blue light faded away from her "I bet you weren't expecting to see Lupine, were you?"

Phoenix gave a soft chuckle "Yeah, I wasn't expecting to see that many EyeCatches, either."

"Neither were we," Calypso glanced at the EyeCatch parts cluttering the ground "It seems like the situation is escalating much faster than we anticipated."

Aurora gave a solemn nod "We couldn't even take them on, separately," she said "We had to fasciate the second we had an opening."

"It was…that bad?" Phoenix mentally rolled his eyes at himself. He knew exactly how bad it was. He had been there to witness it, himself.

"Yes," confirmed Calypso "And personally, I don't like having you put in this kind of danger."

Phoenix resisted the urge to frown and instead turned to Aurora. He was sure that the slender woman would excuse him. However, her doubtful expression said otherwise.

"Yeah, this is really getting out of hand," she said, crossing her arms "We don't even know what to expect the next time we get a signal."

"But that's why you guys should bring me. There's power in numbers!" Phoenix blurted out, earnestly motioning towards himself.

"No, that's exactly why we _shouldn't_ bring you," shot down Calypso "It's too soon for you to be taking on big missions like this."

"But-"

"We'll be fine, Phoenix," reassured Aurora "Don't worry about us."

The man closed his mouth, giving an understanding nod "Sorry," he said "I guess I underestimated you two."

* * *

"… _Aurora said "Don't worry about us," but what I heard was "We don't need you anymore."_ …"

* * *

The young man peered outside the window, the shimmering stars spilling illumination into his otherwise dark room.

Outside, Bianca could be seen exiting the temple, letting the door close behind her with a loud thud. Despite the late hour, her body showed no signs of fatigue. Though, the way she cracked her fingers with a wince said otherwise.

Phoenix scurried back into bed as the Latina began to ascend the stairs. Beneath the blankets, he could hear her muffled footsteps hitting each wooden step. He smiled as he heard the door slowly creak. The first time Bianca let the door slam, it shook Phoenix into wake. It ended in a light scolding and an agreement to be mindful of making loud noises after midnight.

After hearing the whirring of the Telepad, Phoenix lifted the blankets from his body with a determined expression. He was fully dressed in his day clothes. He kneeled down and picked up his sheathed practice sword from beneath his bed. Then he darted downstairs and stepped into Bianca's place.

"First sector, planet Arial," he firmly stated.

Light enveloped him and the darkness of his home disappeared.

When Phoenix regained his sights, he had returned to where he had witnessed Lupine slay the EyeCatches earlier that day. Their corpses remained scattered across the dirt. Calypso had advised against taking any scraps from them for research because none of the previous ones that they had taken produced any useful information.

Phoenix kneeled down and picked up a stray fragment "There has to be a reason so many came here…" he murmured "Something on this planet, maybe…"

The energy around him shifted, Phoenix noticed. An unfamiliar humming grew louder at a fast pace.

Instinctively, the young man hid behind a cluster of teal rocks. The ground rumbled, causing the few clods around him to jump up. Phoenix grit his teeth and held himself firmly. Something was approaching, he knew.

What sounded like a vehicle settled onto the ground just far away enough for him to sense it. It turned off, releasing a flush of air the pushed the loose dirt around. The sound of a hatch opening could be heard, then clinking footsteps.

Silence.

Phoenix held his breath. Someone was there.

"Unbelievable!"

The man nearly jumped at the sound of the gruff-sounding female voice.

"They took out all seventy-nine EyeCatches in one day? _All_ of them? What the hell?!"

Phoenix clamped a hand over his mouth to keep any fearful squeaks from leaking. He was already forming a menacing image of the woman ranting behind him. She didn't sound intimidating because of her power like Lupine. No, she sounded intimidating because of her rage.

Out of morbid curiosity, the male carefully unsheathed his sword and looked into the reflection. He blinked in surprise.

A petite female stood with her back turned towards him. Her skin was amber in color, and her hazelnut brown hair reached her mid back in a steady flow. A denim blue leotard clung to her thin frame, with a matching uniform cap crowning her head. She wore thick, cone-shaped boots that reached her knees. A similar pair of braces encased her forearms, completely concealing her hands. A large fragment of an EyeCatch floated above the blunt end of her right cone, as though she were holding it in her hand. Briefly, Phoenix wondered if they were prosthetics of some kind.

"Grrr, when I find out who's been doing this, I'm gonna rip them all a new one," she growled "I'll probably have to get a soldier out here if there's too many of them…No, I can handle this myself!"

The girl grunted and raised her arms above her head. A green pulse surged through the area and all of the EyeCatch pieces lifted from the ground.

"Let's see if the troubleshooting section of the manual can cover this…" she said, her hair flowing slowly with the energy.

The reflection in Phoenix's sword shifted as the blade started to drift away. The man gripped the handle tighter, but the sword continued its upward path. Before he could realize what was happening, Phoenix was lifted into the air.

A shocked gasp could be heard behind him. Immediately, he was dropped along with all of the other scraps.

"Was that…" the girl shook, crossing her arms across her body "…a man?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy this chapter was a doozy. I somehow combined Cat Fingers (sorta, since Phoenix ended up not being able to transform his clothes), Marble Madness, and Warp Tour. Then I introduced two new characters! I mean, a fasciation counts as a new character, right?


	13. Know Your History (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This new female character's voice is supposed to be akin to Meenah Peixes from Homestuck. Not urban like Bianca's, but definitely brash and tomboyish.

The reflection in Phoenix’s sword shifted as the blade started to drift away. The man gripped the handle tighter, but the sword continued its upward path. Before he could realize what was happening, Phoenix was lifted into the air.

A shocked gasp could be heard behind him, and immediately, he was dropped along with all of the other scraps.

“Was that…” the girl shook, crossing her arms across her body “…a man?”

Phoenix groaned as he pushed his upper body from the ground, only to jolt when a large boulder was placed just inches away from his nose. Like the remnants of the EyeCatches, this was held in the woman’s invisible grasp.

“Don’t pull any tricks, scumbag!” the girl barked “I’ve got terra-magnets and a whole ship’s worth of high quality Botanica tech. What’ve you got? A flimsy sword!”

Phoenix swallowed “I-I’m not trying to start a fight or anything, I swear.”

“Tch, bullshit! That’s what all you humans say before you make mulch outuva’ woman,” the girl grit her teeth and glared at Phoenix “Don’t think I don’t know my own history.”

A thousand questions swarmed in Phoenix’s head, but the man was too worried about the hefty boulder threatening to smash his head in to voice any of them.

“Phoenix!”

The girl lifted her head up at the sound of the voice “Oh, thank _Flora_ ,” she sighed in relief “You’re just in time. I just found this disgusting—“

The petite girl cried out as Calypso’s fan sliced across her thick boot, causing the girl to fall backwards and lose control of the boulder. Before it could fall, Bianca’s whip snatched the boulder and yanked it over her head, where it smashed on the ground behind her. Phoenix scrambled to hurry to the Fleur Girls’ side, clumsily kicking up dust in his panic.

“My terra-magnet!” the girl cried as she held her “boot” up to her knee, sparks flying from the gash. She growled and glared at the three females “What’d’ya think you’re doing?!”

“We could ask you the same thing!” Aurora raised her spear in a threatening manner.

The smaller girl squinted “Wait a minute…why aren’t you three in uniform?”

All three women exchanged confused glances, shooting down Phoenix’s prediction of getting an explanation from them.

“Are you new?” the girl rolled her eyes and muttered “I swear these rookies’ve got their heads on backwards…”

As the girl muttered annoyances and gripes to herself, Calypso briefly took in the sight of the EyeCatch fragments and the ship. She silently stepped up to the girl and gripped her by the collar, immediately eliciting loud curses from her.

“Hey, don’t manhandle—!”

“Are you responsible for the EyeCatches?” Calypso’s words cut through the girl’s complaints, driving her into silence.

Her green eyes widened as they met the other’s intimidating stare “Ye-Yeah…so?”

“Why?” It sounded like more of a demand than a question.

The girl frowned, but still looked frightened “To, to check for any human technology, alright? Y’know, their rovers and space crafts, stuff that they could be using to plan an attack on Botanica.”

Calypso dropped the girl, who grunted in pain “Ouch! Why’re you guys acting so surprised? We all _live_ there. It’s not like you…”

She trailed off as she looked at the three women’s expressions, then her previous confusion and anger ebbed away.

“No way…” she said “You guys’ve been living on Earth?”

She then scowled accusingly at Phoenix “Has this _chump_ been keeping you as his slaves?”

The man gasped under her stare, unable to even fathom such an idea.

Calypso took a side step to separate their view from each other “You don’t understand Earth. It’s changed significantly in the past decades.”

The girl scoffed “As if! You’re actually defending those vermin? For what?!” she then gasped and jabbed an accusing digit at Calypso’s bust “Were _you_ the ones breaking my EyeCatches?!”

“Damn straight,” Bianca announced with a sly grin.

The petite girl supposedly clenched her fists beneath her terra-magnets “Stupid, stupid, stupid! Do you realize how stupid you guys are?! You screwed us all!”

“Earth isn’t the planet it used to be,” firmly stated Calypso “You can tell whoever sent you that there’s no need to hunt down our space crafts.”

“”Our”? Did you just say _“Our”_?! Do you even hear what you’re saying?”

“Girl, we keep telling you humanity’s cool now,” Bianca chimed in again “Have you even been there lately?”

“No, and I don’t need to,” stubbornly stated the girl.

“Then you don’t have room to talk about it,” Calypso summoned her fan “Unless you plan on coming back with us, I suggest you go back home and never threaten our planet again.”

The girl gulped as the blade of the fan glinted in the dull light. With a stubborn frown, she limped her way back to her ship, grumbling empty threats to herself.

* * *

The short trip home was filled with tension. The dead silence between the four adults ran deeper than the whir of the Telepad. When they appeared in the living room, each expressed their discomfort in their own ways.

Bianca shoved her hands in her pockets and began to pace across the room. Aurora groaned unabashedly as she slumped into the kitchen chair. Calypso followed Phoenix as he sat down on the couch.

“Where do you want us to start?” she asked, crossing her arms.

Phoenix sighed, running an exhausted hand through his hair “You said you’d tell me everything.”

“I know,” replied Calypso “Please believe me when I say that we did intend to tell you about this, just not so soon.”

Phoenix closed his eyes “I think I can understand, then. From what I heard, it’s definitely not something to just spring into,” he looked back up at the pink Fleur “But if it’s urgent information, you should’ve told me as soon as possible.”

“Luckily, it isn’t, but knowing it would explain everything we’ve been doing,” Calypso turned around “Aurora, Bianca, you’re not allowed to sit this out.”

Both Fleurs reluctantly made their way to the shorter woman’s side. There was an awkward pause of silence that felt almost inescapable.

“Ugh, where do we even start with this mess?” griped Aurora.

“There was a war between humans and Fleurs,” blurted out Bianca.

The taller of the two stared at her “Bianca…!” she squeaked.

“There’s no way to sugarcoat it, Starshine.”

Phoenix cut through their bickering with a stuttered “W-Wait, between Fleurs and humans?! When?”

“2012,” stated Calypso “It’s safe to guess that they don’t teach it in schools.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole damn thing was wiped out of their history books,” declared Bianca.

The information didn’t settle into Phoenix’s mind easily. Although he knew it was true, he couldn’t genuinely believe it. Unlike all of the mystical events that had been happening around him, he didn’t have physical proof of what he was being told, making it feel more like a fever dream.

 “So Fleurs…invaded Earth?” he questioned “And Botanica was your home planet?”

“Fleurs originated on Earth just like humans, that part is true,” Aurora nervously rubbed her slender arms, but she spoke in an almost impatient tone “Botanica is where we retreated after we lost the war. I...lied when I said it was for territory expansion.”

Phoenix felt his chest tighten. Again, he couldn’t believe it, but it made more and more sense as he thought it through. It would explain why the three women standing before him were the only known Fleurs. Bianca’s speculation earlier would also explain why no one seems familiar with Fleurs or their existence in general. When they left Earth, they took their history with them.

“That’s why that girl thought I was abusing you…” he bemoaned.

Bianca took a step forward “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about, Phoenix. She hasn’t been here in almost a century,” she defended.

There was another estranged pause without words.

Phoenix clasped and unclasped his hands as they dangled between his legs “What was the war about?” he asked.

“Fleurs wanted equal rights,” answered Calypso “We were seen as the inferior species since the beginning of time. I don’t remember the specifics of what started the war because I was born a decade after it started, but I know that it followed the Fleur Rights Movement.”

Phoenix nodded as he took in the information “Then I assume you two don’t remember how it started either, right?” he regarded the older two women.

Aurora and Bianca shook their heads.

“Nari wanted to shield us from the war as much as possible,” said the blue Fleur “So even when we got older, she didn’t tell us any more than she had to.”

Phoenix nodded again “I see…” he agreed, remembering what Calypso told him a long time ago about Nari keeping secrets from them.

“And there’s one more thing you should know,” Bianca piped up “Those Bug and Weed monsters came from the war, too.”

Phoenix furrowed his brow, his accepting expression wrinkling “Wait, what? They’re not just aliens or anything?”

Bianca shrugged apologetically “Sorry, Buddy. I only told you that because I didn’t wanna talk about the war before Starshine and Ladybug were ready,” she said, her tone lightening up a bit from the earlier atmosphere “Since Fleurs have their own magic, humans mutated plant-eating bugs and weeds as types of bio-weapons. When they got out of hand, they were sent out into space.”

Phoenix ran his hands down his face, staring blankly forward as he tried to take in everything he just heard “So that’s how they got there…” he mused.

“But all of that is in the past now,” disregarded Calypso “The EyeCatch problem has been snuffed out, and now we can return to status quo.”

“What makes you think it’s all over now?” Phoenix opened his palms in a questioning manner “I mean, all we did was tell that girl to leave.”

Calypso rested a hand on her hip “Whoever sent her will ask what happened. She’ll be forced to say three Fleurs are protecting Earth. That means someone will be sent here to see what the problem is, and when they do…” the woman gave a subtle smile “They’ll see that there’s nothing to fear.”

“What if she lies?” questioned Aurora “She seemed pretty excited to pick a fight. She might just tell her boss that Earth is planning an all-out invasion, themselves.”

“That will only ensure that more people will be sent here to scout the planet,” confirmed Calypso “I highly doubt that they would send a reckless attack without knowing what they’re dealing with first.”

Bianca folded her arms behind her head “When they see how chill it is down here, humans and Fleurs’ll be tighter than sisters,” she nodded towards Phoenix “What do you say, Buddy? Ready to plan your Christmas vacation to Botanica to see the rest of your family?”

“Uhh…”

Aurora shook her head “Give him a break, Bianca. It’s two in the morning and he just learned about a war.”

Bianca shrugged “Yeah, I guess it’s too soon.”

* * *

“… _I could hardly sleep that night. I definitely can’t say I regret going back to that planet, but it really wasn’t an easy pill to swallow. It was already morning by the time I fell asleep, and when I did, I dreamt about being a soldier at war. My mind had just gathered what I knew about WW1 and WW2, and combined it with every fantasy manga I had ever read. It was overwhelming and chaotic, leaving me feeling bewildered and uncomfortable when I woke up_ …”

* * *

“…so then he started flirting with me back, and for the first time, I actually didn’t know what to say! I probably ended up looking like a dork in front of him, but he was pretty nice about—Are you alright, Phoenix?”

The dark-haired male perked up his head at the sudden twist of sincerity in Harper’s voice. He had been absentmindedly chewing on his breakfast wrap while staring blankly at the table. He started out listening to Harper’s story, but somewhere along the way, his mind began to wander.

“I’m sorry,” Phoenix said after swallowing “I didn’t mean to zone out like that.”

“It’s okay, man,” Harper then lowered his voice “You know if it’s any Fleur trouble, you can talk to me.”

“Thanks, Harper, but I wouldn’t really call it trouble,” he said “It’s more like, uh, being awestruck. Learning about Fleurs is pretty mind-blowing, sometimes.”

Harper gave a small laugh “I don’t blame you. I mean, unless you’re a kid who was raised around Fleurs since birth, I don’t think anyone could take all of this. Imagine how Sidney and Malaya feel.”

His green eyes bounced in excitement “Oh! Speaking of which, Malaya invited us to her place tonight. She said to bring a swimsuit so we can stay in her pool.”

Phoenix was taking another bite of his wrap when Harper said this, and looked up in interest.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d like to go, but…”

“Y’know what? I’d love to.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Harper inclined his head quizzically “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Phoenix rolled his eyes “I can hang out in places other than the Velvet Haven, you know.”

Harper’s eyebrows raised with an impressed smile “Alright then,” he said “We’ll pick you up at seven!”

* * *

Bianca lifted her head from the closet, holding a stack of video games in her arm “Buddy, you didn’t tell me you had all these sweet-ass video games!”

Phoenix, who was upstairs, looked amongst his swimming trunks laid out on the bed. All of which looked like the same black trunks at a glance, but Phoenix was critical of their minor differences in details “Dad gets me those, but I’m not a big gamer.”

Bianca crawled deeper into the closet, her voice echoing “You don’t mind if I set up one of these video game consoles while you’re gone, do you?”

“Go right ahead,” Phoenix waved his hand over his shoulder “I’d feel better knowing those games aren’t just wasting away in the closet.”

He picked up the pair of swim trunks with yellow lines running down the sides. He then tossed it in his beach bag, along with his towel.

The doorbell rang, and Phoenix instantly knew that his ride had arrived.

“I see you later, Bianca,” he said as he descended down the stairs.

The Fleur, still reaching far into the closet, replied “Have fun, Bud!”

Phoenix opened the door to Sidney’s smiling face.

“Hey there, Phoenix!” she greeted “Do you need anymore time?”

“Nope, I’m good,” the man said, catching the sight of a car parked below the treehouse. He recognized it because he had seen it in the Velvet Haven parking lot. He  knew it wasn’t Harper’s, so he assumed it was Malaya’s instead.

A feeling of excitement bubbled in his chest as he anticipated the night.

* * *

Malaya squealed as Sidney rose up from the water below her, taking hold of her slender frame.

Harper floated on his back, folding his arms behind his head with a sigh “Ahh, I needed this,” he said “Things have been pretty stressful, lately.”

“I couldn’t have said it better, myself,” agreed Malaya after the other female released her “Sometimes I just want to take a break from being an adult.”

“All the expectations…” Harper moaned “How do people expect you to juggle all of your responsibilities without a single complaint?”

Sidney gave a small snort “Tch, and when people aren’t expecting you to become the next president, they’re expecting to find you living in your mom’s basement. There's no in-between.”

She turned to the dark-haired male as he swam closer to them “I’ve gotta say, Phoenix, I kinda envy you. Financially stable as a freelancer, no stuffy relatives breathing down your neck.”

“Plus, you’re a magical boy!” Malaya unintentionally splashed some water as she pumped her fists in excitement “You actually get a break from reality every once in a while.”

“And no one’s pressuring you to keep an image,” chimed in Harper “Your dad and the Fleur Girls don’t put you on a crazy high pedestal or anything.”

Phoenix gave a sigh and leaned against the edge of the pool “It’s not all grand, though,” he said “I mean, just last night I learned some pretty dark stuff about Fleur history.”

The others leaned in, curious now.

“Their history?” echoed Malaya “You mean, like, how Fleurs came to be?”

Phoenix shook his head “We never did cover that,” he said “It turns out there was this huge war between humans and Fleurs a century ago. The Fleurs lost and they had to flee to another planet entirely.”

Harper closed his green eyes as Malaya’s filled with horror “The loss was that bad?” she gasped “They had to leave Earth…?”

Phoenix nodded “I couldn’t believe it either,” he said “I mean, we’ve had lots of wars, but I’ve never heard of anyone being forced off of the face of the planet.”

“And this was only a century ago?” Harper shook his head.

“I…think I’ve heard of that before.” Sidney, whose face had been quizzical ever since Phoenix brought up the war, spoke up.

“You have?” As far as Phoenix knew, he was the main source of Fleur information for everyone in Mistford. The only reason his friends even knew was because he chose to.

“I wanted to say something when you brought the Fleur Girls to Sugar & Ice, but I just wasn’t sure,” the brunette continued “My dad has a private library in his lab. I’ve been there before and I could’ve sworn I saw books about Fleurs.”

“Did you get to read any of them?” questioned Malaya.

Sidney shook her head “No, but I remember that they weren’t normal books. They were hand-written journals with the word “fleur” in them,” the brunette crossed her arms “And I’m sure as hell Dad isn’t just interested in French emblems.”

“Can…can I see them?” Phoenix hesitantly asked.

Sidney’s eyes widened “You mean go into my dad’s study?!”

“Does he not let you in?” Phoenix asked.

“Tch, there’s a reason I’ve never been able to read those journals,” joked the female “If you want to read them, we’ll have to sneak in tonight.”

Phoenix flinched back “Tonight?!”

“Yeah, he’s at a science convention and he’s not coming home until after midnight,” continued Sidney “We’ve got a good three hours to snoop around in there and clean up any traces we leave behind.”

Phoenix furrowed his brow at the last few words. His image of Mr. Patrick was starting to warp into something akin to territorial wolf.

Regardless, his curiosity had been piqued. He couldn’t imagine himself turning down such an offer no matter what the hazard may be.

“Okay…” he said “Let’s go.”

* * *

The quartet drove over to Sidney’s house, but the brunette advised that Malaya and Harper stay in the car.

“We’re less likely to mess up anything if only two people go in,” was her reasoning. Both complied, Harper requesting that at least one of them takes pictures of the pages so they have the source material.

Upon entering the house, Phoenix felt almost an immediate sensation of claustrophobia. His own tree house was very open, and the lack of walls made all of the rooms connected. The only rooms that had doors were the bathrooms and his father’s bedroom. In Sidney’s house, though, Phoenix was immediately met with a closed hallway lined with doors. He knew that this was how normal homes were, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling of unease.

That unease halted when they came across what was seemingly the only room in the house that wasn’t closed off by a door: the kitchen.

Sidney flicked on the lights, which casted illumination into the hallway and down the staircase that led to the lower level of the home. She then reached into her fanny pack and pulled out a small key.

“My dad lets me keep a copy of his key “for emergencies”,” she explained, making air quotes.

Phoenix raised a brow “What kind of emergency?”

Sidney shrugged “Not sure. Maybe he thinks some rival scientists will try to break in and steal his findings,” she joked “Or maybe he hopes that I’ll inherit it and carry on the family legacy,” she snickered to herself “I think I’ll stick to selling ice cream, though.”

The two descended down the staircase and entered the family room. Phoenix looked around, confused for a brief moment before Sidney turned him around.

He gave a faint “Oh,” as he looked at the door tucked away in the corner.

Sidney opened the door and revealed another flight of stairs leading to what looked like a basement. She flicked on the light switch for that, too.

Both walked past boxes overflowing with old children’s toys and baby clothes. A crib sat in the corner, filled with DVDs that were only marked by dates.

At the far end of the room, there was a much heavier door. Sidney used the small key in her hand to unlock it “There we go,” she said with a smirk.

Phoenix continued to allow the brunette to lead him. A knot of anticipation clutched at his chest as he entered the room.

Immediately, a shiver ran down his spine. His eyes widened upon seeing his breath turn into visible steam.

“Sorry,” apologized Sidney “I forgot that Dad keeps the lab cool to preserve his samples.”

Only being in their swimsuits, the two youths held their arms close to their bodies.

“Can we take the journals out to the basement?” asked Phoenix.

“Sure, just remember to put it back exactly where you found them,” Sidney stated firmly “In fact, take a picture.”

The man nodded once and held his cellphone up to his bare chest. He and Sidney passed desks topped with beakers and colorful chemicals. A few papers were even strewn about on the floor. The handwriting on them was energetic and bold like the man they belonged to.

“Here!”

A small cluster of bookshelves stood parallel to one another in the corner of the room. Sidney hurried to the second closest one, Phoenix scurrying behind her.

Upon stopping at a row of books, the man immediately snapped two pictures in quick succession and then pulled one from the shelf.

Sidney pulled out her own phone and said “I’ll take some pictures for Malaya and Harper.”

Phoenix gave an empty “Okay,” as his eyes gazed over the first page.

“ _Fleur Findings by Harvey Watts_ ” was written in black ink. With the cover being made of brown leather, the title had to be placed within the journal.

Phoenix made no effort to leave his post once he began reading.

* * *

An hour passed as he read through the journals. Sidney had gotten too cold long ago and stood outside the laboratory door. The silence and her previous coldness caused her to become drowsy. The brunette found herself nodding off several times, only to be fully awakened by a faint voice.

“Oh my god…” Phoenix breathed.

Mathilda poked her head into the laboratory “What?”

The man still sat on the floor, a journal in his hand. The other ones had been turned over after they were read. A look of despair rested on Phoenix’s face in the place of his previous curiosity.

“Humans didn’t originate on Earth with the Fleurs,” Phoenix met the woman’s eyes “We lived on another planet…then _we_ invaded Earth.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we got a little more characterization on Phoenix's friends, who, sadly, still don't have a fitting group name like The Cool Kids do (Any suggestions for their name?). I'm planning on making them a memorable quartet like the Beta Kids from Homestuck rather than just using them as stepping stones for Phoenix. I don't wanna give the idea that just because they're human, that makes them less important than the non-human characters.


	14. Know Your History (pt. 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I get those “that’s historically inaccurate” comments, I would like to add that, like Steven Universe, this has altered history. While many past events occurred, huge details in them were changed for consistency’s sake. This is not meant to undermine historical events. That beings said, this point in the story takes on a very dark turn. Language also gets a bit explicit and discriminatory in this next segment.

 

1517

**Gerald Norton:** When we landed, our ships immediately got trapped in the wild thickets of shrubbery and trees. Those things must’ve reached up to the high heavens. My ship was one of the few that would get the hatch open past all those branches. The other passengers moaned and groaned when we ordered them to stay inside the ship while we went to free the others and make sure they landed safely.

 **Charlie D. Fletcher:** The other scientists and I were relieved to see that this planet also experienced a “daytime”. Whatever giant star was supplying them the light needed to sustain life was what brought us here in the first place. The pilots said that they saw it on the way here, assuring us that our journey wasn’t in vain. Our hopes that it would sustain our life as well were being tested the moment we stepped outside of those ships. The thick plumes of plant life would make for a great settlement ground.

 **James Price:** They set up camps for the passengers to rest. Meanwhile, we tried to reassign our tasks for the servants. We split the dirty-skinned to gather firewood, hunt for food, gather water, and nurse the elderly and the children. They still resisted, even though we could’ve easily left their sorry asses on that burning planet with the rest of their kind.

 **Charlie D. Fletcher:** The days seemed to be longer on this new planet. Their “daytime” lasted roughly twelve hours whereas their “nighttime” lasted another twelve hours. In total, one day was about twenty-four hours, six hours longer than our home planet. This could be the result of the larger size of this planet. Due to the high concentration of plant life here, there is also a much higher level of oxygen being released into the air, but it is still safe to be exposed to without a suit.

 **James Price:** We ordered the dirty-skinned to pick this new plant we discovered called cotton. We could make soft fabrics out of it, something I couldn’t wait to get my hands on after wearing these stiff space suits. A few of the other servants tried to run away, which is a death wish considering we don’t know what else could be lurking on this planet. They’ll either die out in the forests without our support, or get mauled by whatever creatures may lie there.

 **Charlie D. Fletcher:** There are not many animals in these forests, but there are bountiful amounts of fruit and vegetation. Although it is much more fibrous and nutritious than those of our home planet, they do not supplant all of the vitamins present in animal meat. If the animal DNA and artificial wombs we brought fail to supply us with the livestock we need to survive, we can always make artificial meat with the same required vitamins.

 **Charlie D. Fletcher:** We knew this planet could house life, even animals. As scientists, we’re always willing to accept the possibility of intelligent life on other planets. However, that didn’t stop any of us from being at a loss for words when we came across this civilization. At first, it was nearly impossible to notice. The forestry was woven into the city and its buildings. Monuments carved of stone were riddled with thick blankets of grass. Homes akin to a mansion had vines twisted across their walls like the lace of a blouse. It was only when Samson pointed out a generator that we mistaken for a small hill that we realized that we had stumbled into some kind of city. As we ventured closer to the civilization, we came across another startling sight: women.

 **Gerald Norton:** They were the most beautiful women I had ever laid my eyes upon. They ranged in all different shades of melanin, but even their dirty-skinned women were gorgeous. Because of the warm weather, their clothes blatantly exposed their unique body types. They didn’t seem to have any shame at all. Not only did the more heavy set women not care to conceal their bodies, but some women even went topless. They seemed to be an exhibitionist type of species. That or they didn’t have a nudity taboo. Some of the men even joked that they were possibly sirens tempting us into their clutches. For women to turn such ghastly traits such as dark skin and soft waists into something beautiful must have been the work of magic.

 **Alexis Larkspur:** My mother told me that one of our high oracles during her childhood foresaw this event happening. She said that aliens called “Man” will visit our planet in pursuit of refuge from their own dying home. I was never one for religion, but the day I saw them entering the city with those curious and awestruck eyes, I had turned over a new faith. However, I now grow fearful of this prophecy. The oracle also stated that this new species would bring about destruction and pain unlike any that we’ve encountered. I heard from my sister that they have a servant and labor system based on skin color. From what I could see, to have fairer skin meant to be of upper class. I hope that we can change Man’s ways and provide them a less malicious living.

 **Gerald Norton:** They call themselves Fleurs. They’re an all-female race marked with a lily symbol on their bodies. They have such an interesting culture! Without any men, all Fleurs are either homosexual or asexual, raising daughters with their female partners. Some are polyamorous, resulting in a child with multiple mothers. Some Fleurs even raise children with platonic partners rather than romantic ones. Friendship and understanding seems to be highly treasured amongst Fleurs, and seems to be akin to guardianship. All historical conflicts that they have had were a result of two conflicting goods, much unlike ours which were riddled with violence and greed.

 **Charlie D. Fletcher:** The Fleurs allowed us to view documents of their anatomy and health in exchange for similar information of humans. We both seemed mutually interested in just how “alien” we were to one another. Fleur anatomy seemed very parallel to a human’s. They have all of the same organs and bodily functions. However, there were a few additions. Fleurs’ bodies were comprised of flesh and plant matter. Their blood even turns into flower petals upon being exposed to the air! They naturally photosynthesize from the sunlight and absorb moisture in the air, meaning that they do not need to eat or drink periodically like humans do. They also inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen.

 **Charlie D. Fletcher:** I am a man of science, but none of our researchers can explain this characteristic about Fleurs. Fleurs are more than just multi-cell organisms. There is a presence within their body that transcends science, itself. It seems to emirate from their “Fleur Bud”, the organ that acts as the very center of their being. At the age of eighteen, this organ fully matures and grants the owner what can only be called magical powers. This can range from elemental powers like hydrokinesis and pyrokinesis, to physical enhancements such as a supreme jump or run. They can even summon weapons. However, by far, the most shocking power that they gain is the ability to fuse into one single Fleur. In both botanical and Fleur terms, this is called “fasciation”. They have a mythological story of how these powers came to be, but other scientists and I have agreed that this is simply Darwinism at its finest point. It makes us wonder just how long it will take humanity to achieve this level of evolution.

 **Charlie D. Fletcher:** I knew that as an all-female species, their reproductive systems must have differed greatly from ours. However, it was much like that of an intersex human. They had orifices between their legs called “pistils”. It looks like and functions exactly like a human vagina, which is connected to a womb and a bladder just like a human’s. They have another small orifice called the “stamen”, which functions as the clitoris. However, Fleurs not only use it for urination, but for ejecting sperm (or “pollen” as they call it) into their partners. During intercourse, the stamen hardens and extends like a human penis, but it is much smaller. Despite so, it successfully functions as one and impregnates the partner. This finding confirms our previous speculations that these Fleurs are a phyto-species, as flowers contain both male and female genitalia.

 **Ethan Woods:** Tension between Fleurs and humans has reached dangerous levels. Some religious groups who oppose Fleurs’ sexuality and odd gender have acted out in all forms of hatred. While I, myself, do not condone their lifestyle, I certainly do not encourage those who have committed violence against Fleurs. My church has opened a healthy Fleur Conversion Therapy in order to send them on the right path, using prayers and medical practice rather than brute force. We’re concerned, though, that the Fleurs’ lifestyle is rubbing off on some of us, as I’ve recently been suspicious of one of my neighbors becoming a little too friendly with companions of the same sex. We know that Fleurs follow their own faith system, but its acceptance and encouragement of homosexual activity is disheartening, to say the least.

 **Margot Hyacinth:** The humans refuse to release their people from servitude. My wife and I have taken a servant girl away from her owners. We painted a Fleur Bud on her stomach and hid her amongst our own. We hope to do this with the other children born into servitude. It may be harder to try to hide the boys once they reach a pubescent age, but we must try.

* * *

“This sparked a world war, but not the one we were taught about,” Phoenix explained “The Fleurs lost and they were enslaved. They had their land stolen, taken over, and destroyed. All of their monuments were removed, and their governments were replaced…by ours…” Phoenix trailed off, shaking his head as he found it hard to continue.

He sat in Malaya’s car with the other three adults still in their swimsuits. After he explained to Sidney the contents of what he had read within the journals, the two returned that information to Harper and Malaya, turning their eager anticipation into horrified woe in a matter of minutes. Outside, the crickets chirped a sad melody in the quiet of the evening, adding to the overall tone.

“I-I…just can’t believe it,” Malaya stuttered “Everything we’ve been told growing up…it was a lie?”

Phoenix bitterly nodded. For the second time since he had returned to the car, he heard Harper mutter a hush “Jesus…” under his breath.

Sidney looked up from the screen of her phone, which displayed the image of the last journal page that she had shown Harper.

“What about the second war?” she asked Phoenix.

“Huh?”

“The one that drove Fleurs to another planet, entirely,” clarified the brunette “What’d the Fleur Girls call it, the Botanical War? What happened between this war and that one?”

“Oh,” said Phoenix “The Fleur Girls said that it was triggered by something called the Fleur Rights Movement. I guess after Fleurs were freed from slavery, they were still treated as lower class.”

He lowered his head as he said “But I stopped reading at the part where they mentioned slavery.”

“Why?” curiously inquired Malaya.

“I read that…” Phoenix bit his lip nervously “…they weren’t just ordinary slaves for labor; they were sex slaves.”

Malaya gasped as Harper winced.

“After that I just got too scared to read any further,” continued Phoenix “It was just too much.”

Sidney’s gaze lingered on the male, but she didn’t speak.

* * *

“Aurora, chill! Put down the spear!”

The slender woman hesitantly lowered her Stellar Spear, a menacing sneer still resting on her face.

Bianca held a small cup, covering the opening with her hand as it shook around in her grasp. She was lying on the floor as she had rushed over towards the elf trap set up near the corner of the room.

“It’s an elf, girl, not a rat,” Bianca scolded.

“Doesn’t make any difference to me,” Aurora scoffed “And besides, you actually have fun killing Weeds and Monsters. This should be right up your alley!”

Bianca stood up as she kept her hands around the cup “Elves aren’t monsters, though, and they look like actual people. Killing them would just be messed up.”

Calypso, who had been watching the scene from the kitchen island as she ate a pie, said “As long as they don’t leave with my food, they can be disposed of in any way.”

Bianca chuckled “Well, Ladybug, you’d say that about anyone.”

The conversation was interrupted by Phoenix entering the home with a yawning “Hi guys…”

“Oh hey, Phoenix, where were you?” inquired Aurora.

“The gang and I slept over at Sidney’s house,” he replied, rubbing one tired eye.

“Doesn’t look like you did much sleeping, though,” Bianca then winked “Did things get a little naughty after midnight?”

Instead of getting flustered, the male simply said “No, just had a hard time sleeping.”

Surprised by this muted reaction, Bianca muttered “Apparently.”

Calypso smiled with a soft giggle “I’m just glad you enjoyed yourself last night, Phoenix.”

The man gave an empty smile, himself, as he walked toward the staircase leading up to his room.

“Yeah,” he said “Me too.”

* * *

“ _I didn’t tell the Fleur Girls what I read. I just wanted to push it to the farthest recesses of my mind, but even days later, it would spring up again. I would remember what I learned. Every time I saw my own Fleur Bud in the mirror, I remembered the slaves that painted Fleur symbols on their bodies to escape. Any time I saw a crucifix somewhere, I thought of the conversion therapy. Every time I looked at the Fleur Girls, I remembered the concerns of those Fleurs in the journals. And I felt so twisted up inside_ …”

* * *

 **Sidney:** _Come by Sugar & Ice at around 3. I wanna show you something._

That was the message that brought Phoenix to the ice cream parlor that afternoon.

At a table amongst the other chattering customers sat Harper and Malaya. Harper looked stiff and uncomfortable as he conversed with Malaya, who seemed somber and serious.

“I should have expected to see you guys here, too.”

Even though Phoenix meant that in a positive note, his voice made it sound tired.

Harper turned to him with an almost too-wide of a grin “He-hey, Phoenix! What brings you here?”

“An invite from Sidney,” the Asian man seated himself at the table “I’m guessing you two got the same message?”

“Yup, just another day out with the whole crew. At this point, we should have our own name, am I right? One of a kind trademark!” Harper ended his statement with a laugh.

Phoenix gave a friendly chuckle, himself, but he knew that Harper’s words were just filler. The atmosphere around them was tense, but the man’s rattling only made it more awkward, if anything.

“I’m guessing…you guys aren’t over it either, are you?”

Both men ceased their forced laughter when Malaya spoke up.

“What we read about the other night,” she clarified, using a low voice for fear that other customers might hear “You can’t stop thinking about it either, right?”

Harper nervously rolled his shoulders “Huh? Oh that? It doesn’t bother me. I mean, it’s horrible, but it’s not like I’ve been running it through my mind all day,” another unnatural laugh.

In that moment, Sidney had finished attending to the other diners, and finally approached her friends’ table.

“Hey guys!” she greeted “Ready to order yet?”

Putting her somber demeanor to the side, Malaya perked up “Oh, uh, I’ll have the mint chocolate chip, please. Two scoops.”

“Those toffee squares look nice,” commented Harper.

Sidney dragged and dropped icons of those desserts onto the digital image of the group’s table on her Clover tablet “The usual for you, Phoenix?” she asked.

“Actually, I’ll try the lemon meringue this time,” replied the man.

With one last tap of her tablet pen, the brunette said “Be back in a sec,” before leaving.

Lacking Sidney’s presence, the remaining trio was left with a pregnant pause that was only filled in by the white noise of the restaurant.

Phoenix sighed softly “Okay, you were right about what you just said, Malaya.”

The woman’s eyes bounced slightly, as if surprised that he decided to return to the topic “You mean…?”

“Yes,” confirmed Phoenix “It just keeps coming back to my mind, even when I’m trying to relax.”

His eyes settled down to his arms crossed over the table “You know, before, I used to be frustrated with the Fleur Girls when they didn’t tell me everything. I felt like they were being dishonest, and that it wasn’t fair for them to keep me in the dark about things that clearly pertain to me considering I’m…you know.”

He looked up briefly at the end of his statement to see if Harper and Malaya knew what he meant. After their nods reassured him that they knew, Phoenix returned his gaze downward.

“But I can’t even be mad that they kept even more secrets from me after promising they’d be honest, because in a way, I feel like I can excuse them for breaking that promise,” he said “If I had known the truth was this awful, I would have never gone out of my way to find it. I would have never pried.”

Phoenix bit his lip “I almost wish they had kept lying to me.”

A tray full of frozen desserts clanked loudly against the surface of the table, causing the three adults to flinch after they had been huddled together to listen to Phoenix’s low words.

Sidney, the one who had set down the tray, held no apology in her features. Instead, her face was straight and purposeful.

“That’s where I have to stop you,” she said.

All three adults wore confused expressions, but Sidney continued.

“You know, coming from an ancestry of people who were notorious for stealing land and enslaving people, I know what you guys are going through,” the brunette spoke as she leisurely served each dish to her friends.

“When you first hear about it, it’s devastating, enraging even. You get so angry at the idea of being related to people who thought that it was okay, that you don’t know what to do with yourself,” she explained.

The young adults listened intently to her, not regarding the desserts presented to them. Malaya’s eyes followed Sidney around the table. Phoenix stared off into space as he listened pensively. Harper fiddled with his fork, but was ultimately swayed by Sidney’s words.

“Back in middle school was when I first learned about slavery—or at least, what _our_ history books say about it—I threw a fit after school. I just couldn’t stand hearing about such injustice.”

Sidney finished serving her friends and seated herself in the remaining empty chair, where she pulled in her own bowl of ice cream from the tray.

“My dad sat me down and told me something I carry with me to this day,” Sidney continued as she casually spooned the chocolate contents in her bowl “He said that “The anger you feel right now is your morality. Listen to it. It’s trying to lead you to justice. The people before you and I really left a mess, Sid, but we can help clean it up.” He also told me that just because you’re afraid of learning something horrible, doesn’t mean that you should be ignorant.”

The woman lifted her eyes up at Phoenix “So, Phoenix, don’t turn your back on history, or you’ll risk letting it repeat itself.”

The man locked eyes with Sidney, absorbing the newfound responsibility as she grinned encouragingly. Something about that grin said to him “ _I know you can do it._ ”

* * *

“… _And with that, I had decided to start documenting my own journeys with the Fleur Girls in these journals. We’ve encountered many things over these years, and I don’t want the truth to be erased for our future generations. I want our stories to continue long after we’re gone._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure if I conveyed this clearly because it’s a sensitive topic, but I was trying to give a positive message about allies. Many people can look at a marginalized group’s struggles and say “It’s not my problem”, but allies step outside of their social circle to help, and honestly, the world needs more sympathy and selflessness.  
> More lighthearted note: The theme of journals in this story is a minor reference to Gravity Falls.


End file.
